


Clerical Error

by SirPrize



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Guardian Angels, Carmilla is stuck babysitting, F/F, The Angels messed up, Vampires makes crappy guardian angels, catmilla
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2018-08-13 00:46:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 87,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7955545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirPrize/pseuds/SirPrize
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to a clerical error, Carmilla has been assigned as Laura Hollis' Guardian Angel. The problem? She's a vampire and therefore doesn't get any of the powers...and also she just really doesn't want to do this, but she's stuck with it. Now she has to protect a tiny, nosy journalism student who seems determined to get herself killed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Guardian Angels Have A Head Office

Carmilla had held a great number of jobs over the course of her 300-something years. As she could never actually pass for a man for any great length of time, she often had to send in minions, for lack of a better word. They would carry out her orders for the day and then bring work home so she could complete it and prep them for the next day. At best it was a hassle.

Thankfully humanity got off its ass eventually and she could start applying herself without the need for subterfuge…Well, more subterfuge than normal anyway. Still, being a nurse for a while had been nice. The hospital wasn’t great with its inventory, so nobody noticed if a blood bag or two went missing and it felt good to be the one helping people, for once.

Of course, none of it could last. If the job dealt with people a lot, she could maybe hold it down for a decade before the fact that she simply didn’t age became all too apparent. Claiming you moisturized a lot only held up as an excuse for so long.

Even if a job involved minimal human contact she generally couldn’t stay forever, because someone always noticed sooner or later, but most of the time it never came to that and she simply had to quit because maman came calling.

That always put a damper on the next few years. Pretending to be a student again she could deal with. What was the point of an infinite lifespan if you didn’t educate yourself, after all? The whole practice of luring unsuspecting girls in for whatever her mother did with them, that she could do without. Some days she wished she’d never learned the details of that particular enterprise.

Not that it was any sort of pity for the girls that motivated her. It seemed that people only got more entitled, wasteful and annoying with each new generation and the girls in question were generally not very different from the rest of their peers. As homosexuality became more acceptable the girls were often at least good for a quick fuck, but had she not been helping maman she wouldn’t have spent five minutes with any of them.

She still wasn’t sure why she finally made a move and put an end to her mother. She’d been numb ever since Elle, but her death had made some things very clear. Maman had treated her imprisonment and Elle’s death as nothing more than a slap on the wrist for a naughty child, but it had revealed to Carmilla that behind the mothering tone and sweet words lay a woman who didn’t care for any of her ‘children’.

Carmilla couldn’t lose Elle twice, so there hadn’t really been anything left to stop her.

Regardless, broaching the subject with Will was one of the most terrifying things she’d ever done. They were closer now, sure, but they’d barely tolerated each other back then and he hadn’t suffered loss the same way she had. Carmilla had bet everything on their mutual hatred of maman’s mind games in the hope that it wouldn’t lead to betrayal and her messy death.

It had been a pretty awkward conversation with Mattie, when she called to check up a few days later.

“Oh, same old, same old. Will’s good. I think he’s taking a trip to France. Oh yeah, by the way, we killed mother.”

Nobody grows to be over 300 without regrets, but the fact that Carmilla couldn’t see Mattie’s face for the next 5 minutes of stunned silence on the other side of the line was probably somewhere near the top.

It hadn’t been easy in any sense of the word, but the newfound sense of freedom was worth it a thousand times over. Carmilla had even found that Will was far more bearable when he wasn’t constantly vying for maman’s attention. He was still frustrating as all hell at times, but that was the point of little siblings, wasn’t it?

After about 3 years of near constant celebration of this freedom, though, Carmilla returned to a more normal life. For a vampire, at least. She still had to be careful what she did and how long she stayed in one place, but she was free. There was nobody to justify her choices to or to tie her down. She was happy, mostly. Things did get a bit lonely at times, but that was nothing a lot of booze and an eager hook up couldn’t fix.

The biggest pain in her ass now was the government. She had to plan out her next ‘life’ far more carefully with the upgraded security and background checks and getting papers forged was a pain in the ass. It was probably a good thing that she had no political ambitions.

Of course she wasn’t the only vampire with this problem and they had an entire network including officials in the right departments to keep the hassle to a minimum. However, the process was still time consuming and expensive. Besides, the ones arranging the whole thing made it seem like a cult with the secrecy and refusal to just take a cheque. Frankly, she’d had enough of those now that she was done with mommy dearest.

Therefore, it was with some trepidation that she picked up the very official looking letter from her doormat when she woke up that afternoon. She didn’t recognize the weird logo on the front of the envelope, which resembled a halo with a compass arrow inside of it, but fancy logos generally meant it came from the government and that generally meant trouble. Or taxes. _‘So same thing, really.’_ She mused as she sat down in her kitchen with the letter.

Her apartment was large enough to be comfortable without being so big that she couldn’t fill the space by herself. It was fairly modern with light walls, meaning some of her older keepsakes seemed slightly out of place, but Carmilla kind of liked the contrast. It reminded her of herself, a fragment of the past living in the present. The building was right near the city centre too, so she was never too far from anything she might need.

She worked as a freelance photographer these days, which had turned out to be a rather useful job. Few people made remarks about her age, though some were a bit surprised she was so young, and she was essentially her own boss so she had no reason to get up before 2pm if she didn’t have a job that day.

She reached into the fridge and pulled out a soy milk carton full of blood. Putting it in there was an old habit from her many years at university which had proven hard to break. Still, it was easier to pour from than a blood bag was. She poured herself a glass of blood and sat down again, deciding to just open the letter that was still staring her in the face.

She cleanly sliced the envelope open and folded out the letter inside. At the top of the paper was the same logo as on the envelope, but nothing else. She raised an eyebrow and read the first line. “To whichever Guardian Angel fate decrees this letter reaches…The fuck?” This had to be a prank. As she kept reading, her eyebrows rose progressively higher on her forehead.

_To whichever Guardian Angel fate decrees this letter reaches,_

_Greetings! We hope this letter finds you well!_

_While we unfortunately have no permanent assignments for you at the moment, we request that you take on a temporary one._

_Guardian Angel Lawrence has been assigned leave effective immediately and her charge, Laura Hollis, requires a guardian during this period. Due to the importance of her continued survival, she will require constant supervision for the next three weeks._

_As the letter is set to only arrive at currently inactive Guardian Angels, your availability is assumed. As such, we have taken the liberty of activating your divine powers and provided you with the tracking compass. Should you be unavailable, please follow the procedures outlined in your Guardian’s guide and send this letter on._

_Let us reiterate the importance of protecting Ms. Hollis. She will bring peace and closure to many people, which makes her the very model of the living we were sworn to protect. Currently, Ms. Hollis is already in some peril, so it is imperative that she not be without a Guardian for long._

_If you have any questions, please contact your assignment coordinator, L. Perry, through the appropriate method._

_Sincerely,_

_The Guardian Assignment Office_

“What the frilly hell is going on?” Carmilla muttered to herself as she read the letter. She frowned at the thing and threw  the letter down on the table. She was more than aware that there was more than vampires that went bump in the night, and maman had even mentioned guardian angels, but there was no way that she was actually dealing with them now.

Maman had made it very clear that Carmilla would never see one, much less have one of her own. Supposedly, the guardian angels were very, very picky about who they protected and they remained invisible even to them. Only in very rare instances had they ever revealed themselves to their charge or to others. _‘Apparently I missed the part where they freaking unionized.’_ Carmilla thought as she stared down at the letter. It certainly didn’t seem like it came from mythical protectors of the good and righteous. It felt like it was written by someone in middle management or something.

She scoffed and stood up, leaving the letter on the table and taking her blood into her office. She’d taken family photos of an elderly couple with all their children and grandchildren a few days ago and she still had to work on a few of them before she could have them incorporated into an album. The next few hours were spent fiddling on saturation and removing imperfections in Photoshop, while jazz slowly played in the background. The music really didn’t fit her punk rock aesthetic, but it always kept her calm when Photoshop was being difficult and she just wanted to boot her very expensive computer out of the window.

At some point her left hand started to itch and she absently scratched it as she considered the best way to obscure the fact that the baby of the family had drooled on his mother in one of the group shots. A few minutes later the itch returned and then again, and again. Frustrated she looked down at her hand and jerked in surprise, accidentally erasing part of the youngest son’s face. There were letters appearing on the back of her left hand. Black letters written in pretty, looping script.

_Laura Hollis_

A compass arrow appeared beneath the name, with a number below it. It wavered from left to right for a moment before settling and pointing to the city centre in the Northeast, the number occasionally growing larger for whatever reason. Carmilla stared at it in surprise and confusion for a moment, before she remembered the letter and the sinking feeling of dread settled in her chest. “Oh, no. No. Nonononono!” She sprang out of her chair, rushed into the kitchen and snatched up the letter.

She skimmed it for the name and sure enough she found it, Laura Hollis. Apparently she was now meant to protect this girl. Whom she didn’t know. Or care about, for that matter. “…Fuck.” She dropped the letter again and buried a hand in her raven-black hair, already feeling panic bubbling up. “What the fuck is going on? I’m a freaking vampire! I couldn’t be less of an angel if I tried!” She walked over to the sink and stuck her hand under the tap, furiously scrubbing at the letters in an attempt to get them off.

She scrubbed until her skin turned red, but the letter’s remained completely unaffected. It was almost like she’d gotten an unwanted tattoo, if tattoos could move. “Fan-fucking-tastic.” She seethed as she reached for a towel. “What is even happening? Your availability is assumed so we’re going to burn this chick’s name into your hand regardless of the fact that, oh you know, we’re talking to the wrong freaking person?!”

She briefly considered calling Will or Mattie but, honestly, what would they be able to do? As far as Carmilla knew, neither exactly had this ‘Guardian Assignment Office’ on speed dial. The idea that even something as mystical as Guardian Angels was basically a corporation now only got more depressing the more she thought about it. “Before you know it there’ll be dragons trying to sue the government over the lack of virgins being sacrificed.”

She sighed and glanced down at her hand again. She honestly didn’t know what to do in this situation, which didn’t happen a lot. Sadly, this didn’t seem like a problem that would respond well to snark or well-practiced glares. Of course the letter had said something about possible questions, but…”Yup, no way to actually contact her. What the hell is the ‘appropriate method’?”

She turned the letter over, studied both sides of the envelope and shook it out to make sure she hadn’t missed a business card or something, but there was nothing to be found. In desperation she even googled this L. Perry, which led to a bunch of facebook profiles which didn’t look particularly angelic. Googling Guardian Angels or the Guardian Assignment Office proved no more fruitful and Carmilla leaned back in her computer chair with a groan. “Greeeeaat. Just _great._ I suppose this saves me from an awkward conversation. Hello? Is this L. Perry, yes, could you help me? Your people appear to have accidentally assigned a vampire to a protection detail. Not a big bother, just thought I’d let you know.” She muttered in an overly chipper and friendly tone.

Suddenly her phone began to ring and she picked up with a growl. “Yes?”

“Good afternoon! Am I speaking to Ms. Karnstein?” A friendly, high-pitched voice asked on the other side of the line. “This is Lola Perry speaking. I believe you needed my assistance?”

Carmilla nearly fell out of her chair. After a quick check to make sure that there were no hidden cameras filming the most elaborate prank in the history of mankind, she raised her phone again. “Eh, yes you are. Wait! Perry as in L. Perry?  From the...” Carmilla sighed and closed her eyes. Even saying it felt stupid. “The Guardian Assignment Office?”

“More or less, yes.” The voice answered. “Have you recently been assigned, dear? I make a point of learning about all the guardians in my district and I don’t recognize your name.”

“Yeah, there might be a fucking reason for that.” Carmilla sneered. While she felt immensely relieved that she apparently wasn’t going crazy and was now talking to someone who probably knew how to fix this, she had some frustration to vent first. “If by recently you mean two hours ago, then yes, I was very recently assigned.”

“Language, dear.” Perry tutted, sounding highly affronted. “Well, good on you for rushing to get started then. Is there a problem with your assignment.”

“Oh you know, just a minor one.” The enraged vampire felt her phone begin to crack under the pressure of her grip, but couldn’t make herself ease off. “Unless it was the plan all along to dump a pissed-off vampire on whoever the hell Laura Hollis is. If that’s the case, mission accomplished.”

There was a minute of stunned silence on the other side of the line. “Now don’t be silly, dear.” Perry’s tone was admonishing. “We’re Guardian _Angels_. I have no idea what you’re talking about. We are not affiliated with any other supernatural species. Are you drinking on the job, because as it says in your Guardian’s Guide, that is a grave violation of-“

“Oh just shut up and listen, you useless bimbo!” Carmilla snarled, ignoring the scandalized squeak on the other side of the line. “I. Am. A. Vampire. Not a human or some pansy angel. Vam-pi-re. I will bite someone in front of you to prove it if I have to, I swear to god. Now, tell me what the hell is going on with this letter and how I get this freaking writing off of my hand!”

Things went silent again for a long time. “Oh…Oh, dear. You really are a vampire?”

“For the love of-Yes!”

“Oh, dear.” Perry muttered again. “Oh dear, oh dear. I…and you mentioned Miss Hollis? I fear I’ll need to contact the head office, then.”

“You have a head office.” Carmilla deadpanned. “Guardian Angels have a head office.”

“Yes, Miss Karnsten.” Perry replied in a tone most people reserved for very slow children. It did very little for the vampire’s temper. “And a manager and a logistics department, both of whom I’ll need to speak to.” Paper rustled on the other side of the line. “You say there’s writing on your hand?”

“Yes, and an arrow with a number below it.”

“Oh, dear.” The papers rustled again and when Perry spoke she sounded determined. “Miss Karnstein I’m sure you’re familiar with the café near the cinema. I will make some calls and I will meet you there in 30 minutes. Goodbye.”

“How do you even know where-Wait! Don’t you hang up on me!” Carmilla yelled just before the line went dead. _‘The bitch hung up on me. Oh, she is getting bitten just for that alone.’_ Furious, she tried to find her number in her call log and call her back, but it wasn’t there. The last call was with a client four days ago. “Over 300 years of murder and kidnapping and _now_ karma decides to be a bitch.”

 With a heavy dose of reluctance Carmilla got up and headed into her bedroom. She really didn’t have a choice but to head into town now and she probably couldn’t do that wearing a ratty t-shirt and sleep shorts. Well, she could, but she had a reputation to maintain, dammit. She threw on a pair of leather pants and a tight black crop top and about 30 minutes later she found herself at the café.

It made good use of its proximity to the cinema, clearly intending to draw in the movie-going crowd with walls plastered with both new and vintage posters and special weekly beverages based on recent movies. The place was clearly old, with a mixture of new tables and older ones marked with the passing of time, but it had a nice quaint feeling. With no idea what this Lola Perry looked like or how to contact her, Carmilla just plopped down in a booth near the window and settled in to wait. Only seconds later, a young woman with an impressive mane of bushy, red curls sat down across from her. “Hey, ginger spice.” Carmilla snapped, in no mood to be polite. “I’m waiting for someone.”

“Ah, yes. That would be me.” The young woman dusted the, seemingly already clean enough table off with a distressed look before she leaned on it and extended a hand. “I am Lola Perry, the assignment coordinator, but everyone just calls me Perry.” Her voice was every bit as annoyingly sweet as it had been on the phone. “You must be Miss Karnstein.”

“Must I be?” Carmilla drawled, glaring at the offered hand.

“Alright then.” Perry’s smile wavered as she slowly pulled her hand back. “I suppose you just want to talk business. I’ve talked to our logistics people and, well, there’s been something of a mix-up.”

“Mix-up?” Carmilla hissed, holding up her hand and all but thrusting it into the other girl’s face. “Scribbling on me with the permanent marker from hell is a mix-up to you?” She waved the appendage back and forth threateningly. “How about we get to the part where you fix this?”

“It’s most definitely not from hell, dear. It’s from, well, it doesn’t matter.” Perry awkwardly patted Carmilla’s hand until the vampire grumpily retracted it. “See, there has been…let’s call it a clerical error. I don’t know how, but somehow your name wound up among our inactive Guardians.”

“I don’t _care_ how it happened.” Carmilla drawled, very much enjoying how Perry seemed to become more and more intimidated the angrier the vampire got. “I care about getting it fixed.” She scratched her hand absently. It was getting strangely warm.

“Ah, ehm, yes.” Perry stuttered, looking at anything but Carmilla. “See, dealing with matters of this nature is a very delicate process and…You see, we sort of…can’t.”

“…You can’t fix this?” Her hand was still getting warmer, but not uncomfortably so. It felt like it was the only appendage she’d stuck into a bath that was just warm enough.

“Eh, not really, no. You didn’t decline the placement within the allotted two hours so things were set in motion and…Well, we can’t really transfer Miss Hollis to another Guardian without ripping a hole in the fabric of reality at this point.”

Carmilla took a deep breath. _‘Okay. That’s okay. Everything is okay. Seems I’ll be committing another murder today. That’s okay. It’s all okay. I suppose it’s been a while. I wonder what angel blood tastes like.’_ Carmilla was so caught up in glowering at the Guardian Angel across the table that she never noticed the waitress stopping next to them. “Hello! You’re LaFontaine’s friend, right? Perry?” Carmilla turned to look at the girl and froze.

Tiny, with dirty blonde hair tied into a messy ponytail and a red apron with a cupcake with 3d glasses on the front that was clearly too large for her, the girl was maybe the most adorable thing she’d ever seen. Her pretty face and the kind, beaming smile she was offering to the visibly relieved Perry made her seem like the very picture of innocence. The sort of innocence Carmilla would happily corrupt with a night of wine, fingers and tongues.

“Ah, yes, I am.” Perry smiled, eagerly jumping on the interruption. “How do you know Su-LaFontaine?”

“They’re on my dorm floor. They’ve told me a lot about you.” The girl replied. “They nearly blew up the communal kitchen a week ago in some experiment and hid out in my room to avoid campus security.” She giggled at Perry’s exasperated look and took a notepad from the pocket of her apron. “Oh, but I’m sorry, I shouldn’t keep you from your friend.” She turned to address Carmilla and the vampire tried not to preen at the way her jaw dropped slightly. She gave the dark-haired girl a once over, lingering on her lips and cleavage and slowly turned red.

Much as she liked having her ego stroked, Carmilla finally decided to take pity on the shorter girl. She chuckled, which seemed to snap the blonde out of it, and leaned her chin on her palm. “See something you like, Cupcake?” She threw her a flirty smile as the poor girl turned an even brighter red and began to stammer incoherently. “Don’t worry. If anything, you probably saved her.” Carmilla nodded at Perry. “A few seconds later I would’ve flipped the table and brained her with the salt shaker.”

The waitress laughed, clearly believing it to be a joke. Perry, meanwhile, went white and glanced at the exit. She wasn’t quite so sure Carmilla had been joking. “Please don’t. People generally make enough of a mess without spilling blood here and I’d have to clean it all up. Besides, I’m sure you can resolve your issues without violence.” The blonde giggled as she flipped open her notepad. “Right then, professionalism. What can I get you two? I’m Laura Hollis and I’ll be your server today.”

If Carmilla still needed to breathe, she probably would have gasped. As it was, her eyes widened in surprise and she glanced from Laura to her left hand, where the arrow was pointing directly at the perky blonde. _‘Aw, fuck.’_


	2. More Trouble Than Expected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, first of all, thank you so much to the people who took the time to comment and leave kudos!
> 
> Hearing how much you all wanted the next chapter really helped whenever the writing slowed. It was a fair bit shorter, originally, but it felt like something was missing and then it became a lot longer. I'm not entirely sure it now has whatever it was missing, but I'm mostly happy with the chapter and I hope you'll enjoy reading!

“Okay, so one black coffee and one cappuccino. I’ll just go get those for you.” Laura scribbled the order down and smiled at Perry and Carmilla. “I’ll be back in a sec. Keep away from the salt shaker, okay?”

Carmilla waited until the perky blonde was out of earshot and then leaned over the table so she was right up in Perry’s face. “Wow, what a coincidence.” She seethed. “I take it this was intentional, Pippy Longstocking? Shove her in my face in the hopes that I’d suddenly feel protective?”

“I…Well…Yes.” Perry stammered, subtly moving anything that could be used as a weapon out of Carmilla’s reach. “I just figured if you met Miss Hollis, you might feel more inclined to agree to protect her for the coming weeks.”

“Newsflash: It didn’t work.”

Perry sighed and gave Carmilla a determined look. “Look, I’m not happy either. My very simple job just got a thousand times harder all because someone checked the wrong box.” She huffed and pointed at the other side of the café, where Laura was talking to a blonde co-worker. “But that girl needs to be protected and, at this point, you’re the one who got assigned to it and now I’ve got to brief you on 3 years of training in…” She glanced down at her watch. “Less than 30 minutes before I have to get back to my own charge. I can just _feel_ them planning something that’ll blow up in their face.”

Carmilla leaned back in her seat, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. “Oh really? And what if I just don’t?” She pointed at the door. “What if I just get up and leave right now? I have better things to do than devote the next three weeks of my life to shorty over there.” She smirked triumphantly at the Guardian Angel. She had been completely free for the past three years, no way in hell was she going to let herself be pressed in to service by some uptight ginger.

Said uptight ginger immediately looked uncomfortable again. “I’m afraid you can’t.” She said slowly. “Our logistics department tells me they can’t grant you the powers, but the fact that Miss Hollis’ name is on your hand implies that you did get the responsibilities.” She rubbed her own left hand. “You felt it get warm as she approached right? It’ll get ice cold if she’s in trouble or too far away and well…” She hesitated and shrugged. “It’s hard to explain. Just try walking out like you’ll never come back.”

“Oh, _gladly._ ” With one last glare Carmilla shot up, snatched her leather jacket up and threw it on as she marched for the door. _‘Don’t know why I came in the first place. This has been a goddamned waste of time, just because angels are apparently shit at managing their system.’_ Before she could set foot outside, a sense of dread and undefinable wrongness froze her in place. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she felt her fangs descend on instinct as her eyes darted around frantically.

 _‘Oh what the hell now?’_ She couldn’t put her finger on why, but for some reason she felt as if everything would fall apart if she walked out of that door now. As if nothing would ever be alright again. She felt like rushing back, but her pride held her in place. She wasn’t going back with her tail between her legs just because of some spooky feelings. Even if she felt like she wanted to huddle in a corner the longer it went on.

“I’m sorry, are you alright?”

As her hand grew warm once more, the dread and sense of general ‘wrongness’ faded and she turned to find concerned, brown eyes looking at her. “You’ve been standing here for like a minute.” Laura glanced back to the booth, where Perry was watching Carmilla anxiously. “You two aren’t actually fighting, right?”

Despite the lingering sense of doom, Carmilla couldn’t help but smile. This girl actually seemed worried that two people who she met mere minutes ago were arguing and potentially threatening a friendship that didn’t even exist. It was incredibly naïve, but endearing in its sincerity. “Relax, cutie, I was just lost in thought for a moment. I was heading outside for a smoke.” She hadn’t even brought her cigarettes, but it would do for an explanation for now.

“Oh.” Laura gave the dark-haired girl a relieved smile. “I was about to bring you both your coffee, but it can wait if you want to smoke first.”

Carmilla glanced at Perry and bit back an annoyed sigh. She could either step outside and pretend to smoke for the next few minutes, hoping the feelings wouldn’t return, or she could get some answers. “No, no, that’s alright, Cupcake. I’ll smoke later.”

The blonde frowned a bit as she followed Carmilla back to the booth. “Were you not listening when I told you my name? It’s Laura, not Cupcake or cutie or whatever.” Her face scrunched up in annoyance.

Carmilla chuckled softly. The expression was probably meant to be intimidating, but it only wound up looking really adorable. “Oh, I heard. Cutie and Cupcake just fit you so well.” She drawled with a seductive grin, which only grew wider as Laura spluttered in embarrassment and indignation.

“Coffee!” The girl finally said, just a bit too loudly. “I’ll just go get you your coffee.” She rushed off without waiting for a reply. Carmilla chuckled again, watching her leave, and then turned to find Perry frowning at her. “Oh, what?” She asked, meeting the frown with her own.

“It’s poor manners to hit on a waitress.” Perry huffed.

“Oh get over it.” Carmilla rolled her eyes. “How about instead of trying to teach me ‘manners’ you explain what the fuck just happened to me.” She gestured at the door. “I wasn’t even outside yet and it felt like the world was going to end.”

“Ah, yes, that.” Perry’s eyes grew distant and she shivered at some old memory. “It’s what happens when a Guardian tries to abandon their charge or use their power for some other purpose than protection. Prolonged exposure can be…unhealthy.” She smiled politely at the girl who came to deliver their coffee.

“So, you’re essentially indentured servants or something?” Carmilla asked. This whole thing was sounding worse and worse by the second.

Perry almost chocked on her cappuccino. “No!” She shook her head, hand over her heart. “Being a Guardian is an honour. There have just been some of us who have abused the power in the past. It’s a prevention measure.” Perry looked down at her cappuccino for a while. “Look, Miss Hollis really does need protection. What she’s doing is important, but it might get her killed.”

“What is the creampuff doing anyway? Finding the cure to cancer or something?” She sipped her coffee and regretted it almost immediately. It was pretty terrible, really. Far too strong and with an extremely bitter aftertaste that lingered in her mouth.

“I actually don’t know.” The redhead answered, shrugging helplessly at Carmilla’s annoyed look. “Typically only the Guardian in question knows why their charge needs protecting. It’s a privacy thing. You should have received information when you were assigned but, as is pretty clear by now, the system is having some difficulties.”

Carmilla let out a longsuffering sigh and slumped in her seat. On the one hand, this really wasn’t her problem. So what if the creampuff was doing something good? Lots of people did good things. It wasn’t Carmilla’s problem if the blonde wasn’t smart enough not to put herself in danger along the way. _‘Like those girls at Sillas weren’t your problem?’_ The thought came unbidden and brought with it a wave of guilt, which she quickly set about burying again.

Carmilla turned to look at Laura as she held an animated conversation with a father and his two young children, before turning back to Perry. “Okay, so what does this actually entail?”

Perry gasped. “You’ll do it?” She asked, sounding hopeful and relieved.

“Not like I have much of a choice. Apparently if I try to bail the universe will pull the ultimate guilt trip on me again.”

“That’s great!” Perry said, apparently ignoring Carmilla’s statement. “Well, most Guardians remain invisible as they watch over their charges but some of us, Like Guardian Lawrence and myself, prefer to take physical form and befriend our charges. We rely on the alarm to tell us when we’re needed.” She tapped her left hand, where Carmilla only now noticed a name  written in the same fonts as on her own hand.

“Your charge?” She asked, nodding at the hand.

“Ah, yes.” Perry smiled down at the appendage and Carmilla was struck by how different it was. It was small, but the redhead’s features were relaxed and her eyes warm. “LaFontaine. They’re reckless and insist on experimenting on things even I can tell them will blow up in their face, but…they’re sweet and very brave.”

 _‘Ugh, gag me, I did not need to hear her gushing.’_ Carmilla bit back the venomous words on her tongue and took a large gulp of shitty coffee instead. The sooner the ginger explained this crap, the sooner Carmilla could get it over with.

Perry quickly snapped herself out of her thoughts and cleared her throat, blushing slightly. “Anyway, you may have to rely on that method, since you can’t turn invisible. If you’re close your hand will feel warm and it’ll go cold if she’s in danger.” She pulled out her phone and opened the agenda app. “Danny-Guardian Lawrence, that is-will return in three weeks and then she’ll take over again. I’ll send you a reminder about the date.” After a few seconds of typing she glanced at the clock and put her phone away. “Now then, I’m running a bit late. Any questions?”

“Yeah, she can’t see this, right?” Carmilla asked as she held up her left hand. It would be pretty damned awkward if she had to explain why she had Laura’s name on her hand. “And why couldn’t this Danny person take care of this? I mean, this reassignment feels kinda rushed if she’s just taking leave.” She watched Perry open her mouth to respond and hesitate and the vampire’s eyes narrowed. “Ooooh, interesting. It’s not just leave is it?”

“No, no, it really is just leave.” Perry quickly said, fidgeting. “It just wasn’t entirely planned. Danny generally doesn’t like taking leave and there were some people who questioned Danny’s professionalism.” Before the questioning could continue, Perry quickly stood up and pulled on her coat. “As for the writing, that’s only visible to you and other Guardians, don’t worry.” She looked at the clock again. “I’m sorry, but I really have to go before my charge kills themselves accidentally. I’ll call later in the week to check up. Please try not to bite miss Hollis.”

“Who are you, my mother?!” Carmilla called after the redhead as she rushed for the door. The vampire then snorted. _‘Not that maman bothered checking up. She only called when she wanted us to come running.’_ She knocked back the rest of the coffee, frowning at the taste.

Okay, so now what? Clearly she was stuck protecting this girl for the next three weeks, much as she didn’t feel like it. That, of course, presented a number of issues. The first one being how the hell she would go about this. She could hardly walk up to her, proclaim she was the girl’s new vampiric Guardian Angel and request if she could stay out of trouble for the next three weeks.

She got up with a sigh and grabbed her coat again. Hopefully she would be allowed to leave, so long as she didn’t intend to ditch her ‘charge’ entirely. The annoying ginger was clearly allowed to be away from her charge. She paid for her shitty coffee and was halfway to the door when she heard a chipper voice behind her.

“Heading out for a smoke again?”

She turned to find Laura behind her, clutching a menu to her chest. “Actually leaving this time, I’m afraid, Cutie. Can’t spend the entire day drinking terrible coffee.”

Laura’s smile faltered. “Oh, you didn’t like the coffee?”

Carmilla shrugged and made a face. “It kinda tasted like someone boiled charcoal.”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry.” The waitress said, seeming both apologetic and faintly annoyed. “The machine’s been a bit iffy, so we’re using this really old one instead and you kinda need to guess the amount of coffee and water and I tried to do things a little different this time and well I’m sorry it didn’t come out right but you could’ve just mentioned and I’d have made sure you got a new cup.”

Before Carmilla could respond to that pile of word vomit, a customer very pointedly waved and called out. “ _Hey_ , excuse me. We’d like to order sometime today.”

“I’ll be with you in just a second, sir.” Laura replied in a polite tone, rolling her eyes dramatically when she turned back to Carmilla. “So yeah, sorry about the coffee.”

“You managed to screw up coffee.” Carmilla drawled, eyebrow arched. “Sorry Creampuff, but I doubt you have a bright future ahead of you in the culinary world.” She chuckled softly as the shorter girl’s face scrunched up.

“I can make coffee just fine. Did you not hear me tell you about the machine?” Laura grumbled, gesturing emphatically with the menu. “My future in the culinary world is perfectly safe, thank you very much.”

“You treat all your customers this way?” Carmilla asked teasingly, drawing a blush from Laura that made her briefly consider dragging the girl behind the café to have a taste. _‘Sadly, that probably wouldn’t count as protecting her.’_ The vampire thought, licking her fangs before she retracted them. “With customer service like that, I’ll just have to come by again, won’t I?”

The blonde laughed sheepishly and looked away. “Not scared you’ll get more terrible coffee?”

“You’re right. I’ll just order tea next time.”

“Hey!”

“Still…” Carmilla drawled as she pushed the door open. “The coffee was awful, but this place has nice Cupcakes.”

Laura gave her a confused look. “But you didn’t order any-“ She was interrupted when the customer from earlier called to her again, quite rudely, and her expression hardened. “Excuse me. I believe that man and I should have a chat.”

Carmilla chuckled as she stepped outside. Apparently the girl was adorably oblivious. Still, at least this wouldn’t be so hard, right? Just swing by every few days to check up on the cupcake and head out again. How much trouble could a girl that tiny and innocent get herself into anyway?

She turned to look back at the diner and felt her hopeful feelings fade almost immediately. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but Laura was clearly laying in to the customer about his behaviour, if the expression and the angry flailing was anything to go by. This would have been fine if the customer in question wasn’t twice her height and built like a bodybuilder.

Apparently the cupcake had no sense of self-preservation. Greeeeaaat.

To be fair, though, the first few days weren’t particularly hard. Her hand never turned cold and she soon found that the café was open late for the moviegoers and Laura worked a late shift. Carmilla didn’t even have to change her routine too much. Laura had taken the comment about the coffee personally and set about making special concoctions every time Carmilla came by, most of which were also pretty disgusting.

They were either far too sweet, with added syrups or flavoured cream, or they were too experimental and wound up tasting nothing like coffee. The only reason Carmilla still humoured Laura in this whole endeavour was because she made the funniest scrunched up angry face whenever Carmilla bluntly told her the drinks were gross.

Of course, the downside was that they couldn’t really stand each other. Laura wasn’t one of those entitled, self-involved brats this generation had spawned so many of. Oh no, she was something far worse. An optimistic idealist. The girl had this frustratingly naïve idea that people were all kind at heart and that, once she got her journalism degree, she could actually make a difference somehow.

Carmilla had been around long enough to know none of that was true. People were selfish and cruel most of the time and anything the cupcake might dig up might cause a stir for a while before being buried under a load of celebrities cheating on their spouses and politicians stealing money from the government. Nothing had changed that yet.

The cupcake was even working on some kind of project for her journalism class which involved her recording the investigative process or something. She’d rambled at Carmilla about picking the recent slew of missing girls as her subject, but the vampire had tuned her out not long after. All she’d learned was that Laura was putting in a bizarre amount of effort and apparently honestly thought she could find something the police had missed.

It also didn’t help that Laura had a tendency to nag Carmilla about the mess she made of her table whenever she was at the café.

“I swear, you are the worst customer ever to blight this place.” Laura hissed venomously as she aggressively gathered the wrappers of the cookies Carmilla had been ordering individually for the past two hours. “How have you already made this much of a mess? There’s children two tables over who haven’t left a crumb, but you…Ugh.” She trailed off with an annoyed huff. “I swear you’re just doing this to annoy me.”

“Well, obviously, cutie.” Carmilla chuckled and sipper her coffee. Yup, once again it was disgusting. Had she poured a jar of honey in there or something? “I mean, that bunched up face you make when you’re angry is hilarious, Buttercup.”

Laura looked like she was going to dump the wrappers on Carmilla’s head for a second, but finally closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  “You know what, no. I keep letting you bait me. SJ is taking my shift in 5 minutes and I’m not spending them giving you the satisfaction.” She huffed and stalked off.

“Could you bring me another cookie before you leave, Cupcake?” Carmilla called after her, cackling at the waitress grunt of inarticulate rage. She turned back to her laptop and began editing photos again, barely looking up to wave and smirk when Laura all but dumped a cookie on to her table at the end of her shift. Innocent as Laura was, Carmilla could still almost feel the girl’s desire to flip her off.

Carmilla lost herself in her work for a while when her hand suddenly went ice cold, like she’d plunged it into a frozen lake. She jerked instinctively and checked if someone had spilled something on her, but her hand was perfectly dry. The only difference was that the compass arrow appeared to be pulsing slightly. She remembered Perry’s warning about cold meaning danger and got up, grumbling.

Apparently the creampuff had gotten herself in trouble and now Carmilla had to get up before the whole ‘paralyzing doom and gloom’ thing returned because she wasn’t helping. If it hadn’t been for that she would’ve just ignored it and forgotten about Laura and her stupid problems and her stupid optimism and her stupid, cute face and her stupid innocence.

“Goddammit.” She muttered, slamming the door of her car shut as she got in. She’d really hoped she could go these three weeks without having to play hero. “If she was the type to reward me with meaningless sex it’d be fine, but noooo, she has to be all cute and innocent and probably hasn’t even touched a girl without knowing them for 9 months.” She tore out of her parking space, nearly running over a midnight jogger in and flipping him off in the process. At least the number below the compass arrow told her that Laura lived fairly close.

In just a few minutes she drove out of the city centre and on to the university campus. She followed the arrow to one of the dorm buildings and parked her car nearby. The arrow was tilted upwards slightly, so Carmilla took the stairs and kept climbing until she reached the right floor and it levelled out. The moment she stepped into the hallway, Carmilla realized something was wrong. Instantly the hair at the back of her neck stood up and she felt herself tense.

The air felt weird, like it was charged with a low level current of electricity, but electricity that had gone bad for lack of a better word. It felt wrong and a distinctly vampiric part of her biology was urging her to pounce on whatever was causing it or get the hell out. She followed the arrow to Laura’s room, but when she turned around the corner she quickly stepped back and hid behind it. There was someone standing at what Carmilla assumed was Laura’s door in the dark, staring at it.

This wouldn’t have been particularly strange if the person in question wasn’t a bit on the old side to be a student and armed with a fairly large handgun. Also he was muttering to himself in Latin as he drew runes in the air and the door was glowing.

 _‘A mage. Holy shit, cupcake, what did you do?’_ Maman had known some magic so Carmilla knew what it looked like. Hell, she should have recognised the feeling the moment she stepped into the hallway. Of course, if you weren’t particularly experienced, magic took forever to work properly and often involved useless lightshows.

 _“There is no dark magic or light magic. Magic responds to intent.”_ Maman had always said. _“I can use a fireball to maliciously attack or heroically defend. I can use wards to protect a friend or seal an enemy in a room too small to stand up or lay down in. Magic taints the soul and the surrounding area accordingly.”_

This felt wrong, violent and malicious. Whatever this guy had in mind, it clearly wasn’t anything good. Carmilla quickly weighed her options. Unless he hit her in the heart that gun meant less than nothing, but if he fired that thing here he’d wake the entire floor and Carmilla would have one hell of a problem explaining what she was doing here, wrestling with a gunman. No matter what she told people, it would draw attention she didn’t want.

The click of the door’s lock was almost deafening in the otherwise silent hall and Carmilla swore under her breath. Clearly she was out of time. Using her full vampiric speed she rushed over to the mage, one hand on his thoat while the other held the hand wielding the gun turned away in an iron grip. “Hey, Houdini. I think we need to talk.”

She heard a door opening somewhere down the hall and did the only thing she could think of. She poofed them both back to her apartment. Travelling that way by herself was never a problem, but taking someone along for the ride was always disorienting. The moment they poofed into existence again in Carmilla’s apartment they both stumbled back and the mage had the presence of mind to bring his gun up.

It did him little good, though, as Carmilla was faster and she grabbed the barrel and moved it aside. The metal groaned under the force of her grip. “You bothered learning magic and yet you’re still waving this toy around.” She sneered at him. The vampire shoved him hard in the chest, throwing the mage back against the wall. His head connected with the plaster with a sickening crack and he slumped to the floor.

Carmilla tossed the gun aside and crouched by the mage. In the light of her apartment, he didn’t look particularly special. A man in his early thirties with light brown hair, cleanly shaven and dressed mainly in dark blue clothing. She grabbed his hair and tilted his head back roughly so she could look him in the eye, flashing her fangs at him. “Explain what you were doing in the dorms.”

To his credit, the mage seemed dazed but not intimidated by the fact that he was clearly being threatened by a vampire. If anything he seemed almost resigned. He chuckled wryly. “You have no idea what it means to stand in the way of my master. Non propter defectum locus!” The moment the last syllable left his lips, black lines began to spread out over the mage’s skin from his heart and Carmilla quickly let go and jumped back. The mage winced as the lines spread out and then laughed when they began to glow white.

And then he exploded.

The only sound the ‘explosion’ made was a muffled Thwomp, but the mage’s body was completely obliterated and a shockwave threw Carmilla back. She hit the ground with a grunt and then a groan of disgust as she was splattered head to toe with blood and chunks of ex-mage. “Oh fuck today.” She climbed to her feet and groaned again as she took in the state of her apartment.

It was, in a word, ruined. The blast had thrown some of her furniture, though thankfully not far, and most the room was covered in a fine, chunky red layer of gore. _‘Goddammit, it’s even on the ceiling. Is that an eyeball?’_ She shuddered as she felt something went and chunky slide down the back of her neck.

Okay.

So apparently Laura Hollis had pissed someone off. Not just anyone, but a mage. A mage with other mages at his disposal, which probably meant he was powerful. Now one of those mages had basically detonated himself in her apartment, which she would never be able to properly clean, and she was fairly certain a bit of his intestines was resting in her cleavage and she really needed a shower. And on top of all of that, she’d left her car in the parking lot near Laura’s dorm.

She let her head drop into her hands at the realization. “Goddammit, Cupcake, it hasn't even been a week. What did you get yourself into?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there's chapter 2! I hope you liked it, Creampuffs.
> 
> It seems Laura's in more trouble than she knows. Poor Carmilla. She just wanted to sit at home, edit photographs and drink some blood.
> 
> Chapter 3 might take a little longer, depending on how busy I am the next few days, but hopefully I'll have it out before too long.


	3. Vampiric Conflict Resolution (AKA shouting and attempted murder)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey creampuffs! You been enjoying season 3? I have! I think it's been pretty great, aside from episode 24. Fuck episode 24! It had a nice twist at the end, but damn if it didn't have the laziest writing the show has ever seen. 
> 
> That aside, sorry about the wait. Other things got in the way and, in general, this chapter was just harder to write than the past 2. It's also about twice as long so, hey, silver lining. It was very nearly two separate chapters, but I finally decided I might as well leave it as is.
> 
> Thank you to the lovely creampuffs who left kudos and comments! It really helps seeing that people enjoy my work whenevever I get stuck or I have doubts about a plot point.
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading!
> 
> Also: I'M LOOKING FOR A BETA READER!...BECAUSE I HATE PROOF-READING MY OWN WORK!

Carmilla swore under her breath as she stomped through the rain towards the café. She’d spent most of the night cleaning up her apartment and was running on far too little sleep. Blood and gore were not unfamiliar to her, but apparently getting it out of your clothes was a whole lot easier than getting it off your walls and out of your couch cushions. There hadn’t even really been anything left to figure out who the guy was or to track where he came from, which was probably the whole point of the spell.

All in all, she was in an absolutely terrible mood and she really didn’t want to be here. Of course, the universe couldn’t give two shits what she wanted. The moment she decided she wasn’t going to the café that evening, it felt like she’d stuck her hand in ice water. Embarrassingly, the sudden shift had panicked her a little and she’d made to poof into the café to help the creampuff, secrecy be damned.

She decided to blame her urgency on the fact that the universe would go all doom and gloom on her if she didn’t. Beyond that she honestly didn’t care and if she felt bad whenever she thought about something happening to the tiny waitress, well, that just meant she hadn’t entirely given up on humanity yet. Mattie would be so disappointed to hear that.

However, the moment she’d decided that, her hand warmed again. Confused, she’d pondered if that meant she could stay home, but that just sent her back to square one. Apparently whatever danger was bothering the creampuff would be kept at bay as long as Carmilla was near.

_Fan-freaking-tastic._

So here she was. Another night in the same shitty café getting ready to drink the same shitty coffee served by the same naïve little creampuff. She didn’t even feel like bantering with Laura tonight and had resorted to something she honestly didn’t do much anymore. She’d brought the epic of Gilgamesh with her. It wasn’t really the sort of book she’d normally reach for. A number of well-loved texts on philosophy lined the shelves of her apartment and normally she’d dive into those in her spare time. They helped make the world make sense and she liked pondering the deeper implications behind the philosophies.

Things like Gilgamesh, though, served a different purpose. Those novels were for when she didn’t feel like making sense of the world and just wanted to hide behind a book and lose herself in a world only loosely connected to her own. It was a decent coping mechanism for when she was in a truly terrible mood.

Besides, this version was in the original Sumerian and the pride of having taught herself how to read that always helped to make her feel better.

She threw herself down in a booth and pulled out her book, losing herself in the ancient tale. Of course, what little peace she could find didn’t last long. If she died during this crap, she was going to have a serious conversation with fate, she decided. One involving sharp objects.

“Hi, my name is Laura and-oh, it’s you.”

Laura had looked up from her phone halfway through her standard, peppy greeting. It had trailed off into something more akin to disdain the moment she recognized Carmilla. “You always make your customers feel this appreciated, Cupcake?” The vampire sneered, in no mood for the attitude.

“When they drip water everywhere like a drowned rat, yes.” Laura shot back, taking out her notepad. “Now, what can I get for you to complain about today?”

The next hour or so passed in relative peace, though Carmilla found it hard to lose herself in her book the way she normally could. Laura turned out to be very distracting, even when she wasn’t trying to be. It was just...with her constantly bustling about, she was almost always at least partially in sight. That, and the weird coffee with some kind of raspberry aftertaste was like a little reminder with every sip.

The girl didn’t really seem like herself today. Laura’s smile seemed a little tense and faded quickly and she seemed generally more distracted, often glancing down at her phone. She seemed to get progressively more jittery until she came by to collect some things from Carmilla’s table. When she nearly knocked the vampire’s still half full cup into her lap, Carmilla finally sighed and lowered her book. “Okay, I get the feeling I’m going to regret this but, what’s wrong?”

“I…Nevermind.” Laura fidgeted with the plate absently. “I’m just worried about SJ. She’s pretty late.” She shifted the plate to one hand and took out her cellphone with the other to glance at the time. “SJ is never late.”

“Really, Cupcake?” Carmilla scoffed, incredulously. It took her a few moments to actually put a face to the name, but eventually she managed to picture one of the café’s other waitresses. It wasn’t like she was here to make friends, after all, so she’d barely paid anyone here any attention. “So she ditched work for once. No need to issue an Amber Alert, Poptart.”

Laura glared and shook her head. “Not SJ. I’ve never met anyone more dedicated, even with really mundane things. The one faintly rebellious thing she’s ever done, to my knowledge,  is her boyfriend, Kirsch.”

Carmilla smirked and raised an eyebrow, but Laura seemed not to notice how she’d worded that and moved on, unperturbed.

“And he’s working right now, so I know she’s not seeing him.” She ran a hand through her hair, looked at Carmilla and sighed. “Look…I know this will sound crazy, but I’m really worried about her.”

To Carmilla’s surprise, that concern appeared to be genuine. It hadn’t taken her very long to have Laura pegged as something of a bleeding heart, but this was odd all the same. As far as she knew, the two were more polite than friendly with each other, yet here Laura was, worrying like she’d known the girl all her life. It would’ve been cute if it hadn’t been so frustratingly naïve, really.

“Wow.” She drawled, resting her cheek on her hand. “Under all the sunshine and rainbows is a real reservoir of paranoia, huh, Cupcake?”

Laura huffed and crossed her arms. “If you think that’s paranoid, you should meet my dad. Besides, it’s not.”

Carmilla arched an eyebrow.

“It’s _not!_ ” Laura repeated, more emphatically this time. She angrily opened the pictures folder on her phone and all but shoved it in Carmilla’s face. “Here, see that?”

The vampire took the phone and completely ignored the picture in favour of inspecting what had to be the oldest phone she’d seen in years. A flip phone. An honest to god flip phone. From some weird brand she didn’t recognize too. She turned to Laura, a bemused smile on her face. “Very nice. Family heirloom?”

The waitress rolled her eyes, snatched her phone back and turned it around before shoving it at Carmilla again. “Haha, very funny. I know mockery is all you’re good for, but look at the damn picture, Carmilla.”

 _‘Okay, apparently the creampuff really isn’t in the mood.’_ That was too bad, really, considering she had to hold back her laughter at that little scrunched up face. With a dramatic roll of her eyes, Carmilla accepted the phone and looked at the picture. The phone’s camera clearly wasn’t great, but she could easily make out a small symbol carved in the base of a tree trunk. The next image looked similar and when she selected it, she found a smaller version of the same symbol, carved into a wall close to the floor and right next to a brown door.

“Cupcake…” She began, tilting the phone slightly to get a better look at the symbol. “Why do you have pictures of ancient, Sumerian symbols carved into shit?” She looked up at the blonde and grinned. “It’s not wise to keep record of your history of minor vandalism.”

“That wasn’t m-Wait, you know what that is?!” Laura plopped down in the booth across from Carmilla, eyes shining with excitement. “You actually know what that means?” She was leaning over the table, expression eager and hopeful.

“Simmer down, Miss Croft. It’s just a symbol.” The vampire sighed. “Also, should you really be sitting with me while you’re working?” She added as an afterthought.

The remark earned her a deadpan look. “Carmilla, I’ve called you the worst customer ever to blight this place, a slob and an obnoxious b-aaad person who _tried_ to fit her head up her own ass but couldn’t because she couldn’t get it past the waistband of those leather pants of yours, all to your face. I think it’s safe to say that my boss doesn’t care what I do.”

Carmilla’s eyes widened in surprise and she lowered the phone. “Eh, what? I actually don’t remember that last one, Cupcake.”

Laura blushed an impressive shade of red and slumped back in her seat, murmuring under her breath. “Right, only mentioned that to LaF.”

Carmilla couldn’t help but laugh softly. “I guess I was right about what I said when we met, Cupcake.” At Laura’s confused look, she elaborated. “I said you didn’t have a bright future ahead of you here.”

“Riiiight, because of the coffee.” A giggle escaped Laura and she immediately looked a little angry at herself for letting it out. “Maybe I don’t, but we weren’t talking about that. You never answered my question.” When Carmilla replied that Laura hadn’t answered her question either, she looked around nervously. “…You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“Were you under the impression that I didn’t think so already?” Carmilla asked. Instead of the usual scrunched-up glare, though, she got a pout and a pair of big, soulful eyes that would put a kicked puppy to shame. Finally Carmilla sighed and caved if only to move on and get this bullshit over with. It wasn’t because the unwavering pout was starting to make her feel bad. Honest. Vampires of over 300 centuries were immune to that. _‘And if I just keep telling myself that, maybe reality will warp and it’ll become the truth. God, at least Mattie isn’t here to see this.’_

Heaving a big sigh, looking as reluctant as humanly-or inhumanly, as the case was-possible. “Look, you tell me what you’re doing with these, and I’ll tell you what they mean. I won’t call you crazy, I promise.”

“Sweet!” Laura chirped, instantly perking up. Carmilla’s eyes narrowed as she took in the mood swing. She had the distinct impression she’d been played. “I mean, eh, fine. Okay, then.” Laura quickly continued, trying to downplay her excitement under Carmilla’s scrutiny. “I told you about my project, right? About the missing girls?” At Carmilla’s nod, she continued. “Well, my friend LaFontaine and I sorta found out where they lived and asked if we could look around.”

“And they were okay with that?” Carmilla asked, eyebrow raised. She couldn’t imagine being too pleased at finding a bunch of wannabe-detectives on her doorstep if someone she cared for was missing.

“Don’t interrupt.” Laura admonished. “And, well, the first girl’s family was. They were just really, really desperate to get their daughter back.” She looked down at the table for a moment, eyes distant. “They just wanted help, really. From anyone who would offer.” She sat like that for a few more seconds and Carmilla found herself unsure of what to say. Thankfully she was saved from having to come up with something when Laura cleared her throat. “The second girl, Betty, used to go to my university. She actually shared an apartment with someone and her roommate wasn’t keen on letting us in at first. We had to talk to her for a bit.”

The little waitress selected the first picture. “We didn’t really find much inside, but we did find this on a tree in the family’s garden.” She selected the next picture. “And this one was next to the door to Betty’s apartment. That can’t be a coincidence, right? Neither of them looked like they were into the occult or wicca or anything like that, so I doubt they did it themselves.”

“And you did all of this for a project for your journalism class?” The vampire asked.

The girl huffed. “I don’t half-ass anything. Besides it started out as that, but…” She weighed her words for a moment. “I want to be a journalist so I can help people. Why not start now with these girls and their families? I…Losing someone is awful and these people, who don’t even know if they lost them or not, must be so confused. So conflicted. I just want to help. Even if…even if I can’t give them good news.”

 _‘Oh.’_ Carmilla swallowed and tried not to stare. Laura was very, very pretty. She’d known that, of course. Anyone with eyes would have to admit that, at the very least, Laura was endearingly cute. When she talked about things like this, though, something was different. She spoke with such sincerity and determination. It was so very naïve, but _god_ did it look good on her.

It was a shame that she had to break the girl of it before she could get hurt. That was what Guardian Angels were supposed to do, right? Break bad habits before they could become harmful. “Cupcake, you’re an idiot.”

“Hey!”

“I only promised not to call you crazy.” Carmilla reminded the shorter girl. “Did you even consider how this looks? That the police might still be looking at their houses? You could not have made yourself look more suspicious if you’d tried.” The vampire could tell from Laura’s expression that, rather than consider her words, she was just waiting for a chance to argue. So she met her glare with one of her own. “Cupcake, worst case scenario, you’re attracting the attention of whoever took these two.”

Laura’s face was actually going red now and she opened and closed her mouth twice before she let out an angry huff. “I’m not a child, Carmilla. Of course I thought of that. Hell, LaF and I went to the police. We only got further than the front desk because Kirsch is a cop and even then the rest of them just blew us off. Even insinuated we’d carved that ourselves and were just looking for attention!” She took a few deep breaths. “Why am I even explaining myself? I don’t need your approval. I need you to stick to your part of the deal and tell me what this symbol means because SJ found one behind the plant outside her house.”

Carmilla’s eyebrows shot up again. The cupcake hadn’t bothered to mention that part. Twice could be a coincidence, even if it was unlikely, but three times? She couldn’t particularly give a shit about the little waitress, but if her ‘charge’ had taken up chasing a serial killer with a taste for the occult, her job was going to get so much harder. Carmilla bent down to inspect the symbol again. “Well, like I said, it’s Sumerian.”

“And you know Sumerian why?” Laura asked, in an unimpressed drawl.

“I had a boring year a while ago.” About 150 years ago, but the cupcake didn’t need to know that. “I figured I’d read Gilgamesh and my mother was really pretentious about translated work.” She continued, tapping the book she’d put aside for emphasis. Laura thankfully didn’t inquire further and Carmilla turned the phone slightly to get a better look. “Oh, I think this means sight.”

Almost immediately she felt her stomach sink as the penny dropped. There were very few reasons to carve ancient Sumerian runes into anything. In fact there was pretty much only one. Magic. Considering the fact that her apartment still smelled of mage chunks, this raised some unfortunate implications. _‘The most unfortunate one being that the cupcake is on the right path…and the path leads to a bunch of homicidal mages. Fuck.’_  God knows what good a sight rune did, or what spell required it, but she wasn’t quite optimistic enough to believe that it was just intended for harmless magical voyeurism or something.

“Carmilla? Broody McLeatherpants? _Hello!_ ”

Carmilla looked up to find Laura waving a hand in her face. “Sorry, Poptart. Was arguing with myself for a minute there, but yeah, I’m pretty sure that means sight.”

Laura seemed a little dejected that the rune hadn’t instantly pointed her in the direction of the culprit. “Okay…I’m not sure what to do with that information but at least it’s more than we had.” She eyed Carmilla strangely for a moment. “Still can’t believe you learned Sumerian just to read a book.” She mused, before she turned back to her phone and began to text. “Well, I can at least let LaF know we found the meaning of the scribbles of hell.”

“The epic of Gilgamesh isn’t just any book, Cupcake.” Carmilla dramatically put her hand on the book, as if to shield it from the blonde’s words. “And what can I say? Some of us have hobbies that won’t get us put on a criminal watch list.”

The waitress groaned. “God, you’re impossible. I swear-HOLY HUFFLEPUFF!” She jumped in surprise and dropped her phone on the table when it suddenly started to ring.

Even Carmilla jumped a little at the unexpected noise, but quickly tried to hide the fact by slouching in her seat. “Holy Hufflepuff? Really?”

Laura fumbled with the phone for a moment before picking up. “Hello? Laura Hollis speaking.”

_“Laura! Oh thank god!”_

Carmilla’s sensitive hearing picked up on the other side of the conversation as clearly as it would if the caller had been sitting next to her. That being said, she didn’t immediately recognize the voice. Thankfully, Laura did.

“SJ? Where are you?” She asked, looking around as if hoping to spot the other girl. “Did you forget you’re working tonight? You’re like an hour late!”

_“No, no, Laura, listen! I’m freaking out, okay?”_

“Okay, okay.” Laura replied, clearly trying to seem soothing. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-Is everything alright?”

 _“Laura my car just…stopped. It won’t start and it’s so dark here. I think I just saw someone.”_ SJ sounded very close to hyperventilating. _“Like, just standing in the pouring rain, looking at my car. Dammit, Laura, your stories made me totally paranoid!”_

“So your car broke down.” The waitress let out a relieved sigh and relaxed a little in her seat. “Okay, that’s not so bad, right? Do I need to help you find, like, the number for a towing company or…”

 _“I already called one, but they’re still not here. And it didn’t break down. It just…stopped. One minute it was working and then the next it wasn’t. No weird noises, no dramatic explosions or smoke.”_ There was a rustle of movement. _“It doesn’t even seem like it’s trying to start when I turn the key. And I keep seeing shit moving, but when I look again, there’s nothing there. I’d call Kirsch to pick me up, but he’s working and not answering his phone.”_

Laura bit her lip contemplatively and looked up at the clock. “Shit, okay, well I’ll see what I can do. Are you safe, at least?”

_“I don’t-Yeah, I guess. I mean I’m not on the road and I have a knife, so-“_

“WHY DO YOU HAVE A KNIFE?” Carmilla winced at Laura’s volume and then chuckled when the sheepish waitress quietly apologized to the customers she’d just scared the hell out of.

_“What did you expect, Laura? I mean, it’s probably nothing, right? The whole satanic runes thing? I just…Better safe than sorry, right?”_

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Carmilla rolled her eyes and sipped her disgusting coffee. “They’re not satanic, they’re just Sumerian. Just because they’re old that doesn’t mean they’re evil.” She noticed Laura giving her an odd look and shrugged, pointing at her ear. “What? I have good hearing and the damsel in distress over there isn’t exactly quiet.”

Laura shot her a quick admonishing look, before she turned her attention back to her phone. “Ok, SJ, I’m gonna come pick you up. Just tell me where you are and…well, I don’t have a car, but I can get a cab or something.”

Carmilla’s hand instantly turned ice cold and she bit back a bitter sigh. “I have a car.” Talking Laura out of going was probably not going to happen, or take far, far too long to bother with if it was. As long as the cupcake had some vampiric protection things would be fine, right?

Laura looked both immensely grateful and weirded out that Carmilla was offering in the first place. She quickly had SJ relay just where her car had broken down and mentioned to her boss what was going on. Thankfully, while she was doing that, Carmilla’s hand slowly started to warm up again. Apparently whatever danger  was threatening the creampuff was far less of an issue so long as Carmilla was there.

She really wished she’d gotten stuck with a less suicidal charge.

Once Laura had informed her boss, Carmilla led her to her car. It was a small, simple model. Her main concern had been finding something that would go largely unnoticed. Well, that, and whether or not it came in black.

The first five minutes of the journey were silent, but of course good things never last. “You know, I didn’t have you pegged as the type.” Laura said.

“The type for what?”

“Helping people.” When she noticed Carmilla’s eyes narrowing, she quickly tried to explain. “No, I just mean…Look, I just wasn’t expecting you to just offer to help out of nowhere.” She said, blushing brightly.

“Do you always insult people who help you, Cupcake?” Carmilla pouted and faked being hurt by the words.

“N-No! Just…I…”

The girl sounded genuinely panicked that she may have upset the vampire and Carmilla finally burst out laughing. “Cupcake, relax before you have an aneurysm, okay? It’s fine.” She turned to Laura and gave her a seductive grin. “Maybe I just like the idea of you owing me one. I can think of so many fun ways you could repay me.” Her eyes trailed up and down the blushing blonde’s body. Oh yes, she could think of a few things.

A familiar scent hit her and Carmilla smirked. _‘Well, well. I’m getting the cupcake all hot and bothered.’_ She thought. _‘That’s very good to know.’_ This gig might suck, but nobody said she couldn’t try to get some fun out of it, after all. With some luck she could even draw her attention away from this doomed little quest she was on.

Laura blinked rapidly a few times and then turned to look out of her window. “You’re impossible.” She grumbled. “And keep your eyes on the road.”

Carmilla chuckled, but did as she said. She’d let Laura have her denial for now.

In another 10 minutes or so they drove to where SJ had told Laura her car had broken down. “There! I think that’s her car.” Laura pointed to a dark shape by the side of the road. The moment Carmilla’s car came to a stop, the blonde threw off her seatbelt and quickly got out of the car.

“Hey, Cupcake!” Carmilla called after her, but Laura had already closed the door. Swearing under her breath, she threw off her own seatbelt and got out as well. The moment she did, she was hit with the same sense that something was wrong that she’d felt in Laura’s dorm. Someone had used magic here.

She quickly jogged up to Laura, who had stopped in her tracks. It wasn’t hard to see why. At first glance it merely seemed like the driver’s side door was open, but with the light from the headlights illuminating the scene, it was clear that only a piece of the door remained. The rest had been wrenched away and tossed into the ditch. What remained of the door was still drenched in blood.

“SJ?!” While Carmilla was looking around for who or what had done this, Laura rushed over the car. “Nonono! SJ! SJ, are you-“ She stopped dead next to the car and gasped, hands coming up to cover her mouth. On the seat lay a bloody hand and, on the floor, was a small kitchen knife with a bloodstained blade.

Laura made a sound between a sob and a retching noise and stumbled back, tripping over her feet. Carmilla caught her and quickly turned her away from the sight. “Cupcake! Hey, deep breaths, okay? Come here.” She pulled the girl a few steps away from the car and held her steady. “You’ve got to call the cops now, okay, Cupcake?” No response. “Cupcake. Hey, c’mon, Cupcake. Work with me here.”

The blonde continued to ignore Carmilla’s attempts to get her attention and stared blankly at the car, white as  sheet and trembling. Whether that was from the freezing rain or the shock Carmilla wasn’t sure. _“Laura.”_ Carmilla finally said firmly as she gently took the girl’s chin and turned her head to face her. The vampire waited until she saw a spark of recognition in those panicked eyes before she continued. “Cupcake, you have to call the cops, okay? My phone’s dead.” She lied. Her phone was fine, but the less involved she was with the authorities, the better. This was bad enough, really.

“I-I, yeah…but…SJ…” Laura began to protest, but Carmilla still had a hold of her chin and gently kept her from looking at the car again.

“Laura, you might not want to see the things you might find there.” She led the smaller girl another step away from the car. “I’ll check, okay? You just call.” Laura was still a little unsteady on her feet when Carmilla let her go, but the blonde nodded with a grim look on her face. It seemed having a job gave her some focus, at least.

While Laura called the police, Carmilla went back to check SJ’s car. She circled it twice, but didn’t find much other than shards of metal from the ruined door. No body. She even checked the trunk just to be sure. The knife the girl had brought with her was clearly taken from a kitchen block somewhere, better suited to cutting carrots than people, but she couldn’t tell if the blood on it was SJ’s or if she’d actually gotten a lucky shot on her attacker.

She was about to walk back to Laura when a glint near the front wheels caught her eye. It probably would’ve escaped the notice of anyone not armed with a flashlight, but darkness hadn’t been a hindrance to her in quite some time. At first she thought it to be yet another piece of the door, but when she knelt down she found it was smaller and made of a different metal. She flipped the golden piece over and swore under her breath.

The piece had been sheared off diagonally and most of the ID number was missing, but it had clearly once been part of a police badge. As in a badge worn by police offers. Like the very ones Laura had just called.

… _Fuck._

As they could hardly bail from the scene of a crime after just reporting said crime, there was little Carmilla could do but wait with Laura until the police arrived. The first ones to get there took one look at the scene and immediately called in for more people and soon enough there was a small army of police cars and even a few dogs searching the nearby woods.

Laura and Carmilla had been put in a van, out of the rain, and wrapped in blankets. Apparently that was supposed to help with shock. Carmilla had shook hers off with an annoyed huff the moment the officer who’d draped them over their shoulders had turned his back. The piece of the badge felt like it was burning in her back pocket and she tensed a little any time an officer passed by the car. There weren’t a lot of explanations for what it was doing at the scene of what was, in all likelihood, a murder.

Well…No good explanations at least.

Really, Carmilla just wanted to leave. Not only was she getting increasingly tense, she could still smell the blood even with the rain covering it slightly and it was beginning to make her hungry and cranky. Probably not the appropriate response, but fish gotta swim and all that.

Laura had drawn her knees up to her chest and was resting her head against them, hiding away from it all. Carmilla figured it was only polite to pretend not to hear the sniffling or see the trembling in her shoulders. She didn’t do the whole ‘comforting’ thing anyway.

“Hey, little nerd.”

Carmilla’s head snapped to the door to find a musclebound cop with a dour look on his face.

“Kirsch!” Laura shot out of the van and flung her arms around the cop, who gave her a small smile and returned the hug hesitantly. “I can’t believe they called you in for this!” She said, pulling back to give him a concerned look. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“They didn’t call me in. We were in the car when the it was reported and…I just…I knew it was SJ’s car from the description.” He turned pain eyes to the car and then quickly looked away again. “I turned on my phone and there was, like, 12 missed calls and I…I…”

“Oh, Kirsch.” Laura sighed, her eyes watering.

“Ma’am, excuse me, but-Oh. Sorry, Kirsch.” Another officer had joined them, though he was in a suit rather than a uniform. He was young, seemingly somewhere in his late twenties, with a friendly face and bright, blue eyes. The rain had plastered his blonde hair to his forehead and he swept it back before addressing Kirsch again. “How are you holding up? Nobody would blame you if you decided to go home.”

Kirsch vehemently shook his head. “No, sir. I…I have to here. If they find something…Someone should be here.” He turned back to Laura and gestured at the other officer. “Little nerd, this is detective McCoy. Sir, this is Laura Hollis. She goes to the university I went to.”

“Hey.” Laura mumbled by way of greeting as she shook the detective’s hand. “I think I recognize your name. You’re in charge of the investigation on the missing girls, right?” She blushed a little under his inquisitive look. “I’m a journalism major. I read the papers pretty closely.”

The detective let out a wry chuckle. “I see. Well, it’s nice to be recognized for something else for once.” This time it was Laura’s turn to give him an inquisitive look and he shrugged. “My father is the chief of police. It tends to attract some unwarranted attention at times.” He noticed Carmilla and gave her a polite smile as he extended  a hand. “I’m sorry, miss, I don’t believe I caught your name.”

“Carmilla Karnstein.” She answered, pointedly ignoring the hand. “I drove the cupcake here when she got the call.”

There was an awkward moment of silence before the detective lowered his hand and cleared his throat. “I see. Eh, Cupcake?”

“She means me.” Laura muttered, face red and glaring at Carmilla.

“Ah, right then.” The detective smiled kindly at Kirsch. “I have to ask the ladies a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, no, totally.” The musclebound officer nodded. “I’ll just go…” He trailed off and waved vaguely in the direction of SJ’s car before setting off.

The detective had Laura describe her version of events. Everything from why SJ had stopped here to if she had mentioned odd occurrences or potential enemies before this. Still rattled and distracted by the defeated-looking Kirsch only a few feet away, Laura stumbled over her answers a bit but managed to give the detective a clear enough picture.

Once Carmilla had added her part, which really only consisted of offering to drive, the detective nodded. “Alright. I think that’s all I need. Miss Karnstein are you safe to drive home? I can get someone to drop of Miss Hollis at her dorm.”

Laura opened her mouth, but Carmilla quickly spoke first. “No. I’ll get her home. Don’t worry.” Laura gave her and odd look but thankfully kept her questions to herself when Carmilla nudged her with her foot.

“Are you sure?” Detective McCoy asked, looking at the information he’d noted down. “It’s a bit out of your way, correct? It’s really no problem.”

“It’s fine.” Carmilla bit out, a little more harshly than intended. She stood up and grabbed Laura’s hand. “But we should get going before it gets too late. If that’s all…” Without waiting for a reply, she pulled Laura over to her car.

“We’ll be in touch if we have more questions!” Detective McCoy called after them.

“What the hell was that?” Laura asked, the moment they were in the car.

“What the hell was what, Cupcake?” Carmilla asked, hoping her sour expression and the aggressive way she threw the car into the reverse gear were enough of a sign that the subject was best dropped.

“You pulling me out of there like your ass was on fire.”

 _‘Note to self: Try simply telling her to drop it next time.’_ Carmilla thought as she turned on to the road leading to the university. “Cupcake, did you ever think that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my evening on the set of a crappy horror movie? I figured you’d want to go home too.”

The answer earned her a few minutes of silence, even though Laura stared at her oddly for the duration. “You found something.” The blonde eventually muttered, her tone stuck somewhere between disbelief and realization. “You’ve been weird ever since you checked SJ’s car. You found something and you hid it from the cops! Carmilla!”

The vampire rolled her eyes. “Cupcake, trust me, you don’t want me to hand this to them.”

“Trust you?!” Laura yelled, incredulous. “You’ve just basically admitted to stealing evidence! And you said _I_ was making myself suspicious? We’ve gotta go back!” She waited for Carmilla to reply, but when it was clear she was being ignored, she reached out and shook the dark-haired girl’s shoulder. “Hey! I’m serious! Turn around right the hell now!”

“Do you want me to crash?” Carmilla snarled, shaking Laura’s hand off. “Cupcake, let me make this clear, we are not going back there and we sure as shit aren’t giving them anything.”

“And what am I supposed to tell Kirsch?!” Laura fired back, crossing her arms. “Oh yeah, we found something, but the girl who drove me figured it was better to not give you guys something to further the investigation.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” The vampire growled and dug around in her back pocket. Apparently Laura wasn’t going to listen unless she had a clear indication of just how fucked she was. “Here! Look at that and tell me you still want to go back.” She tossed the piece of metal at the waitress, who fumbled with it for a moment before she got a good grip on it.

She turned it over twice in her hands and then went remarkably pale. “This…This can’t be what it looks like, right?” She found no reassurance in Carmilla’s expression, but if anything, she seemed to only become more determined. “Well we still have to go back!”

“What?!” Carmilla accidentally jerked on the wheel and nearly sent the car slamming into the sign of Laura’s university as they passed it. “Creampuff, I know I said I wouldn’t call you crazy earlier today, but you’re making that very hard at the moment.”

The blonde rolled her eyes and glared at Carmilla. “Not to give this back. Kirsch is still there!”

“Indeed, _the cop_ is still there.”

You-I-You can’t mean…!” Laura spluttered angrily, flailing in her seat. “He’s her boyfriend! You saw how upset he was! How can you still think he had anything to do with that?!”

“Well, the wrecked badge might be part of it.” Carmilla growled sarcastically. “But maybe, unlike you, I can see that the world’s not all rainbows and puppies, Cupcake. Just because the meathead was banging your friend that does not automatically mean he’s innocent.” She turned slightly to glare at Laura. “Do you realise how stupid you’re being? You learn the police is involved and your first instinct is to run back to said police.”

“You can’t just assume they’re _all_ involved!” Laura yelled. “Kirsch would never hurt SJ! Even if it’s more than just one cop, I can’t sit here and do nothing!” She waved the piece of the badge around. “Whoever lost this at SJ’s car might go on to hurt more people. I have to do something to stop whoever it is.”

“What you have to do, Cupcake, is keep your head down.” Carmilla’s grip was beginning to leave indents on the plastic of her steering wheel. “Not only are you now probably attracting the attention of the police, you are also attracting attention from the kidnapper and potential serial killer working for the police.” She gave the blonde a patronizing look. “What do you really think you could do anyway? Do you think with just a little hope and good intentions you can solve the mystery and capture the dastardly villain? Just leave it alone and keep your head down. That’s what I’m doing.”

Laura looked to be about five seconds away from hitting her by this point. The blonde closed her eyes and took a very deep breath. “No.”

“What?”

“No.” Laura repeated, more firmly this time. “I’ve finally got a decent lead, so I’m  not going to give up.” She was clutching the piece of the badge so tightly her knuckles had turned white. “I can’t go to the police with this. Fine, you’re right. But this is a lead. I can use this and when I find out more.” She looked from her clenched fist to Carmilla. “I won’t stop just because it’s dangerous. Or because you want to run and hide. These girls deserve better. SJ deserves better.” She shrugged. “Even if it was you missing, I’d do it, because even you deserve better.”

Carmilla slammed on the breaks and the car came to a screeching halt in front of Laura’s dorm. “We’re here. Get out.” She snapped, trying not to picture the faces of girls whose names she couldn’t even remember. Rage was burning through her body and that was good. Rage was comfortable. Better than shame or regret at least. So long as she was angry, there wasn’t room for anything else.

“Fine.” Laura huffed and got out, slamming the door behind her. She was halfway to her dorm when she suddenly turned around and yanked the door open again. “Thank you for driving me.” She bit out, the glare on her face draining the words of the intended gratitude. “And I’m sorry you had to see that.” With that the tiny waitress slammed the door again and stomped inside.

Carmilla let out the animalistic growl that had been building in her throat all this time. Her fangs descended and she snarled at nothing as she turned her car around. Honestly, there was stubborn and then there was freaking Laura Hollis apparently. Lemmings had a better sense of self-preservation! _‘I swear to god, I’m going to find a way to contact Curly Sue and I’m telling her exactly where she can shove this freaking assignment. Holes in reality be damned. I have better things to do with my time than babysit some prissy little Lois Lane wannabe determined to get herself killed.’_

It wasn’t like she wanted to be the bad guy here.

…Okay, so normally she’d have no problem stomping on someone’s dreams, especially if they were as naïve as Laura’s. The optimism was sickening, honestly. It just wasn’t quite as fun when the blonde gave her those damned puppy dog eyes, or that frustratingly cute glare whenever Carmilla forced her to face reality. The world just didn’t function the way the blonde clearly hoped it did. It _didn’t._ Carmilla had seen enough of it to know that to be true.

And of course her hand chose this moment to go cold again. _‘Well, of course she’d be in more danger right now. She can figure it out herself.’_ Carmilla kept driving and her hand kept growing colder, until it truly reached arctic temperature. Not long after that sense of complete despair and wrongness set in. She’d thought that, living with maman, she’d seen just about everything there was to be scared of. Witches, ghosts, demons, maman had played host to all of them and more at some point.

This was worse. It was like a clammy hand was gripping her soul, slowly peeling away the layers that shielded her from the creeping dread. With another growl she parked the car by the side of the road and threw up her hands. “Fine! I’ll just go save the creampuff again! Jesus!” Defiant though her posture was, she could feel her hands trembling uncontrollably.

She opted to ‘poof’ herself back to Laura’s dorm and appeared in a cloud of black smoke in the nearby carpark. She didn’t even have to go inside to find whatever was threatening Laura this time, as there were two men outside of her dorm. One was kneeling by the door, messing with the lock. They were visibly armed too. Well, visibly armed to Carmilla. To most humans, the guns would have been hard to spot in the dark, partially covered by their coats as they were.

 _‘Are they unwilling to risk magic being seen out here?’_ She wondered. There was more of a chance for people to pass by out here and trying to get in with a lock pick was easier to pass of than having a bunch of glowing runes drifting around you. Still, it hardly mattered. She had some frustrations to work out and an excuse to do so as messily as possible.

 _‘In fact, I think I know just the way to do it.’_ It had been a while since she’d last transformed. Living in the city, transforming into a large panther wasn’t very smart, since any moron with a smartphone could snap a picture and have the entire city on high alert for the next month or so. Even running around as a cat had some issues, considering there was at least a decent chance she’d wind up in an animal shelter or something.

Repetition probably wouldn’t make the feeling of all your bones shifting and realigning any less weird, though. It was thankfully painless and almost relaxing, her skin tingling as she sank to four legs and sprouted a thick tail. She let out a groan that turned into a rumbling growl as the transformation finished and an abnormally large partner, as dark as the night, stood in her place.

The one keeping watch spotted her first, all but jumping a foot in the air when she noticed the beast. “Fuck!” With admirable speed she drew her gun and fired, putting a bullet into Carmilla’s shoulder. She yowled in pain but, while it hurt like a bitch, it wasn’t much of a wound. At least she knew which one to kill first, now.

“You spaz!” The one who’d been kneeling by the door said. “Make more noise why don’t you? I don’t think you’ve alerted the entire campus.” He seemed to be the older of the two, with a slightly heavier build and greying hair.

“Well can you blame me?” The woman countered, gun still raised at the unbothered panther as it prowled closer. “Look at that thing.”

The two wisely continued backing away with each lazy step Carmilla took towards them as she savoured the scent of their fear. She wasn’t about to admit it to Mattie, but her sister really did have a point sometimes about taking more time to indulge rare pleasures like this.

 “I think we know what happened to Jones.” The man said, glancing at the dorm, where a few lights had turned on.

“Do you think she called for it?” The woman asked, her hand trembling when Carmilla crouched and let out a rumbling growl.

“No…If she managed something that complex…” He shook his head and raised a hand. “The master hasn’t miscalculated like that yet. Either way, we can’t stay. The noise woke people up.”

Carmilla gave them a toothy grin. They actually thought she’d let them leave. Cute. She leapt herself from her crouch, claws outstretched and mouth open. The young woman shoved her partner aside, but left her arm open in doing so and Carmilla felt the bones snap when she closed her jaws around it. Warm blood spurted down her throat from the gaping wounds and the young woman screamed in agony, feebly trying to shake the heavy beast off. Carmilla raked her claws down her side and left deep gashes that gushed blood for the attempt.

Before she could set in for a proper mauling an invisible force slammed into her side and threw her away. As befits a big cat, she landed on her feet, but skidded back a bit before she found her balance again. She looked for what had hit her and found the man with a raised hand and a rune glowing on his palm.

He dropped next to the woman, who had gone from screaming to groaning loudly in agony, and began to drew more runes in the air. Carmilla cleared the distance in two bounds, roaring as she leapt, but the runes flashed and the two vanished with a deafening crack. Her claws drew deep gouges into the sidewalk as she skidded awkwardly to a halt, just short of slamming through the glass doors of Laura’s dorm.

If Carmilla could have sworn in this form, she would have been swearing up a storm. Snarling she looked around for her prey, but the two had clearly teleported far away. Teleportation definitely wasn’t easy magic either. _‘Seriously, what the fuck is going on?’_ Annoyingly, the man had raised a good point, more than a few lights were on in the dorm now, so she sure couldn’t stay here. She ‘poofed’ back to her car, where she took her normal form again. With a heavy sigh she leaned against the car.

“Ok, so now what?” Sleep was high on the list of priorities, but her mind was buzzing frantically. This was the second time there she’d had to deal with mages, which was far too often in one week. _‘And they’re not too worried about collateral either, apparently.’_  She grunted in discomfort as the bullet was pushed out of the already healing wound in her shoulder.

Still, surely this had to be it for now. Whatever Laura had done to piss off a bunch of mages, surely they would hold off for a time after two failed attempts to get at her. Satisfied with her own reasoning she got in her car and set off home, intent on passing out until at least 8PM. She could work out what to do about the supernatural assassins.

The irony of this thought did not escape her when she woke up 12 hours later because her hand was freezing.

Over the next two days, despite finding reasons not to go to the café, Carmilla had to intervene three times, though none were quite as direct as the last one. She stuck to her panther form to keep her own involvement in the whole thing largely secret and clearly word had spread. The mages now typically tried variations of the same spell, which appeared to have no effect at all to their surprise, before opting to teleport out before she could close the distance.

While she’d seen the older man twice more, she hadn’t seen his younger partner again. Then again, that wasn’t surprising. Honestly, the woman might be dead. She’d certainly shredded her arm and side and blood loss from wounds like that was nothing to scoff at. Even if she hadn’t, it would’ve been enough to put her out of commission for a while.

Either way, Carmilla was tired, cranky, sick of having to ‘poof’ herself to Laura’s dorm and apparently getting absolutely nowhere in making it clear that the girl was off-limits. Whoever had taken an issue with her was either highly determined or pathetically stupid. Though not stupid enough not to let his flunkies take care of things. Most seemed to barely know what they were doing when it came to magic.

She was making progress with something, though. She’d managed to contact Perry. Or rather, Perry had contacted her to check in. Either way, Carmilla could yell at her. “I swear to god, I don’t care how many holes it rips in reality, if you don’t find someone else to assign this job to soon I will murder someone.” She growled into her phone. “I don’t care what great destiny that girl has, she is clearly doomed to die. What’s more, she seems to actively be working towards it.”

“Ah, yes, sometimes we must protect our charges from themselves more than anything else.” Perry said, clearly trying to soothe Carmilla. If anything, it only made her more annoyed.

“Oh, you have no idea, carrot top.” She grumbled. “I have had to deal more with mages this week than in the past decade of my life. I’m a vampire! We don’t do stress!”

“Ah, you don’t say.”

Carmilla stared at her phone in disbelief for a moment. “Are you sassing me, ginger spice?!”

“No!” Perry squeaked, terrified. “No! Just…I was just trying to work out a solution. I mean, the problem is having to get over there every time, right?” Carmilla muttered something and the Guardian Angel seemed to take it as a confirmation. “Well, I guess it’s too late for you to register and pose as a student. Is there some way you could spend more time with her, so you could keep a closer eye?”

“No. Unlike you guys, I can’t go invisible whenever I feel like it.” She tugged on her hair. “The only way that would work is-Aw fuck.” She facepalmed and groaned loudly. There was a way. A really, really degrading way.

“Miss Karnstein? Carmilla? Hello?” Perry’s voice drifted from her phone, sounding increasingly concerned.

Carmilla sighed again and raised the phone. “Yeah, still here. Listen, your charge was friends with my charge, right? I might need your help.” As she explained the plan to Perry, one thought kept running through her mind.

_‘If she buys kitty litter, I swear to god, I’ll kill her myself.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, for good measure: I'M LOOKING FOR A BETA READER!...BECAUSE I HATE PROOF-READING MY OWN WORK!
> 
> Now then, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. It's certainly not perfect, but it's closest to what I want and what will flow into the following chapters nicely. Much as I'd like to get all fluffy on you, I can't do that yet. I can't make it that easy for our babies. There needs to be anger and fantasies of hate sex first XD
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading, and now for something special:
> 
> SIRPRIZE'S SHOWER THOUGHTS! (#1)
> 
> Eh, not the dirty ones. I'll keep those private.
> 
> This is really just a look behind the scenes, if you will. A glimpse of my thought process while I ramble about everything and nothing, ranging from my writing, to the writing process in general to games, annoying tropes, books or what have you. Occasionally it might even be a 'deleted scene' for lack of a better word.
> 
> For example, the topic for this first one (on this site, anyway) is how some stories can surprise you. Particularly in the attention they draw. 
> 
> First things first, checking the stats on your posted work is always kind of the same thing, yet you never get used to it. First, right after posting, there's this moment of blinding panic in which you hit refresh over and over. Nobody seems to be reading your work and your brain is going "Oh god, nobody is reading it! Of course they're not, it's shit! You knew it was shit! Why did you post it you freaking twat?!"
> 
> Then people actually start reading and then there's this sense of relief when it climbs from the tens to the hundred and even the thousands. Followed by joy whenever you get kudos and really nice comments. I'm not kidding when I say it helps seeing those, whenever I get stuck. Once the initial panic has faded and you analyze things more calmly, though, you can be a bit surprised by some stories.
> 
> For example: I don't have much work up on this site yet and, currently, all of what I do have is in the Carmilla fandom. This was the first work I posted here, while the other two came later and are based on specific episodes of season 3. This second and third work have nearly twice and thrice the number of hits, respectively. That is not entirely surprising, nor is the fact that they're close in terms of kudos, but this fic has for more subscriptions. I tend to skip over unfinished work too, unless it really caught my eye and then I'll generally subscribe.
> 
> What is surprising is how much more popular my third work 'A Very Dumb Vampire' is than my second, 'Please'. Both are similar in style, though AVDV is much longer and smuttier. With around a 1000 more hits and 71 more kudos, it's clearly the more popular of the two, yet I'm not entirely sure why. Honestly, I like Please a bit better. While it was harder to dive into Laura's head for that fic, it was easier to put her thought process to paper. Carmilla's character is much closer to my own, so it was easier getting into her head, but harder putting that to paper in the right words. I feel that's noticeable in AVDV, but maybe that's just me.
> 
> Is it the smut? Are there just more people looking for something with a litle sex? I'm certainly not complaining that people seemed to like it. Quite the opposite. I'm thrilled! Still, it's surprising just which stories stand out to people sometimes.
> 
> Guys, thank your for reading (especially if you actually read my ramblings on fiction stats)! I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Not sure when I'll have the next chapter up, but I'm not without ideas, so hopefully it won't be too long!


	4. Confessions of a Kitty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Creampuffs, it's another new chapter! Yay!  
> ...I feel faintly like Kermit the Frog announcing the Muppet Show now.
> 
> Thank you so much to the awesome Creampuffs leaving kudos and commenting! And of course a shout-out to my wonderul beta, smartassducky! Your prompt's coming up, I promise!
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading, Creampuffs!

Carmilla typically quite liked being a cat. Granted, she preferred her more powerful panther form immensely, but being a cat wasn’t bad by any means. She was rarely cold in that form, and napping as a cat was absolutely fantastic. She was even quite a pretty cat, with her sleek black fur and dark eyes.

Being someone’s pet cat, though…yeah…she wasn’t entirely sold on that. Or at the very least, she wasn’t completely sold on being _Laura’s_ pet cat. At the very least, getting the journalism major to take her in hadn’t been very hard.

As it turned out, Perry’s charge Lafontaine was Laura’s friend, and as Perry was posing as another student, she could provide the journalism major’s schedule. All Carmilla had to do was linger outside of the dorm at the right time, looking faintly sad and hungry in her cat form.

One look and Laura had been all big, concerned brown eyes and gentle cuddles, which Carmilla hadn’t liked at all, honest. Vampires didn’t like petting…or at least not that kind. Laura carried Carmilla up to her room, ignoring the no pet policy, and poured her a saucer of milk.

That had been sort of humiliating in and of itself, as was getting cooed at when she didn’t immediately start lapping it up, but Perry’s reaction had made up for a lot. The guardian angel had heard of the plan, of course, but clearly actually seeing it was quite different.

She’d stared at Carmilla with wide, confused eyes, as if trying to work out how the intimidating vampire could take the form of something that looked so harmless. At least she’d played her role well enough.

Carmilla had spent the entire day vying for Laura’s attention, butting her gently with her head, curling up on her surprisingly comfortable lap, purring loudly and generally trying to look as cuddly as she could. It had worked like a charm, and soon enough Laura was pleading with Perry to let her keep Carmilla.

Hell, even the other redhead had spoken up in favour of Carmilla staying. She could admit kind of liking them. Granted, they were a bit obsessed with running test for absolutely everything, but at least keeping them from blowing the dorm up kept Laura busy now and then.

The vampire had a sneaking suspicion that the reluctance in Perry’s voice when she accepted hadn’t been an act, but she honestly didn’t care. At least now she could keep an eye on her “charge” more easily.

Of course, this came with several issues. The first of which being that Laura was so, so very annoying.

The girl was an unapologetic nerd, spending a truly shocking amount of time on inane sci-fi and lesbian drama shows. She had a diet to match, consisting mainly of processed sugar and hot cocoa, and seemingly nothing else. Carmilla was honestly starting to worry if it counted as her not doing her job if the girl died of scurvy.  

If Laura came back with nothing but cookies one more time, she’d try to get some vegetables in here while she was in class, the vampire decided. Maybe she’d find a hipster and mug him for his kale.

She was also ungodly clumsy, knocking over just about everything in her path because she kept trying to do seven things at once.

The main issue, though, was the complete and utter lack of silence. Laura seemed to completely disregard that she was talking to a cat, nattering on about everything and nothing, and there were always at least one or two other people hanging out in her dorm room.

Seriously.

They. Would. Not. _Leave!_

They had an annoying tendency to walk in uninvited too, and Carmilla had to very quickly transform or hurl the book she was reading away just to seem like a normal cat. Even when they did leave, they just came back the next day. It was infuriating and Carmilla had seen far too much of the ginger twins over the past three days.

It wasn’t like Laura’s 18-hour workday provided any sort of relief. She’d figured she could simply relax in cat form or go home and do some work, but nooooooo. Any time Carmilla tried to do that it was like she’d stuffed her hand into a freezer, so she had to follow the girl around as casually as she could.

The sudden increase in “older students” and “campus security” had not gone unnoticed by the vampire/unwilling bodyguard.

So yes, Carmilla was more than a little annoyed and had perhaps taken a bit more pleasure than she should out of properly playing a bored cat and shredding Laura’s bra…and a Kipling novel…and her pyjamas.

To her surprise, though, she’d also gotten a glimpse of a side Laura clearly didn’t show many people. The fact that the creampuff wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows shouldn’t have been surprising, because nobody was, and yet…

Near the end of her first week of watching Laura, the girl had just finished up another round of research with the ginger twins and was seeing them out. Business as usual, really. However, normally Laura would come bounding back into the room and throw herself into some essay or the 76th round of binge-watching Buffy or something. Not this time, though.

This time she flopped on to her bed and let out a heavy sigh, looking rather dejected. She checked her phone, frowned at it, and then chucked it away and let it bounce off the mattress. Her head lazily rolled around to face Carmilla, who was curled up on Laura’s yellow pillow.

It had quickly become her favourite resting place, partially because seeing it covered in black cat hair annoyed the girl and partially because it smelled like Laura. Surprisingly, she smelled less like cookies than expected, but Carmilla still had to grudgingly admit that Laura smelled _good._ Maybe adding to her own torment wasn’t smart, because the smell made Carmilla damned hungry at times, but it was also strangely soothing and the pillow was a very comfortable place to sleep.

“I don’t suppose you wanna cuddle?” Laura asked.

Carmilla didn’t have eyebrows to raise, so she simply gave the girl a blank look and flicked her tail.

“You know, you were a lot more affectionate when you needed shelter.” Laura muttered. She sat up, glanced at her phone and frowned again. “Dammit, Danny.”

Carmilla yawned and rolled her eyes. She’d heard this ‘Danny’ being mentioned a few times during her stay with Laura and it hadn’t taken her long to put together that this was probably Danny Lawrence. As in Guardian Angel Lawrence. She’d hoped to get some information on why her predecessor had suddenly taken leave, but frankly she had only gotten more curious and confused.

From what she could gather, there had been some sort of fight that Laura was both still very pissed and very guilty about and since then there had been radio silence from Danny. While Carmilla figured this probably had something to do with the Guardian Angel’s sudden leave, the explanation Laura had apparently gotten was that Danny had to take care of some family issues.

Hell, for all Carmilla knew that was actually true. Did Guardian Angels have families? She could have asked Perry, of course, but that would have involved actually talking to Perry.

“It’s not like I never wanted to see her again.” Laura began, apparently once again ignoring the fact that she was trying to source dating advice from what she thought was a cat. “I know she’s hurt, but she just made me really mad. Besides, I can’t help it if we want different things, right?” She looked to Carmilla for confirmation.

Carmilla meowed, resigning herself to listening to another rant. The girl reached over to pet the black cat as she spoke and the vampire tried to keep from leaning into the touch, but Laura had found this spot that felt _divine_ when scratched. She involuntarily tilted her head to guide Laura’s fingers there and decided to blame that on animal instinct.

“Right.” Laura said, sounding more sure of herself. “I mean, Danny is beautiful and sweet and brave, but…I just don’t want her like that.” She paused and blushed, only continuing her ministrations when Carmilla pointedly nudged her fingers. “Okay, so maybe I kind of want her like that. I’m very gay, sue me.” She muttered. “But I don’t want a relationship with her, you know? Not if she can’t get it through her head that I’m not made of glass and that there are things I need to do even if they aren’t entirely safe.”

 _‘Ugh, gag me.’_ Carmilla thought, tilting her head again to get Laura’s fingers to hit just the right spot. She honestly wasn’t sure if she could cough up hairballs in this form, but if this kept up she just might. Of course the cupcake had to be all dramatic about a girl who probably just wanted to get into her pants.

“You really couldn’t care less, could you? You just like that I’m paying attention to you.”

Carmilla opened her eyes and looked at Laura and, dammit, that sad face was actually making her feel bad. Sure, Laura was naïve and dramatic and annoying, but…there was something in those eyes. Fear of losing a friend. Regret for hurting someone. The strength to stick by her convictions regardless.

“I just wish she’d text, at least.”

 _‘Dammit, Cupcake.’_ Carmilla thought with a sigh. Seeing that little ray of sunshine looking so down was just weird. She briefly wondered if Laura even had anyone to show this side to. Whenever Lafontaine or Perry mentioned the fight, Laura was all righteous anger and indignation, none of this mushy crap. _‘Well, I guess there’s your answer.’_ She thought to herself.

With another sigh, Carmilla stood up and locked eyes with Laura. _‘This is a one-time deal, Cupcake.´_ She tried to will the honey-blonde girl to understand the message in her eyes before she trotted over and rubbed herself against Laura’s side.

“Aw, Bags!” Laura squealed and Carmilla rolled her eyes, already regretting this. The nickname was short for Bagheera. Laura hadn’t been sure what to call her, so she’d gone by “Kitty” for a while at first. Surely William would’ve loved that, if he ever found out.  Carmilla had earned herself the name when Laura came back early and she’d been in her normal form, reading a collection of Kipling’s works that she’d found among Laura’s books.

Needing a good reason for why there was a book in the middle of the room, Carmilla had quickly transformed and shredded the novel. The cupcake hadn’t been particularly happy, but at least the whole thing had given her inspiration for a semi-decent name and not some of the awful crap she’d been considering like Mittens or Muffin.

“C’mere you.” Before Carmilla could escape, Laura had lifted her up and was pressing her face into sleek, black fur. The vampire turned cat let out a meow of protest and squirmed until she was put down on Laura’s lap and- _oh_. The scratching had resumed. Maybe this wasn’t so bad.

“See, you can be sweet when you want to be.” Laura cooed, smiling as her attention reduced Carmilla to a sleepy, cat-shaped puddle. “Aw, you’re even purring.” She stopped scratching and placed her hand on the cat’s side to feel the gentle rumble of her purr.

Mortified, Carmilla’s eyes snapped open. Oh god, she actually was purring. She never purred. Immediately she tried to stand up and jump off of Laura’s lap, planning to shred something later in retaliation. Laura blocked her way with an arm before she could, though.

“Oh, no no no. C’mon, Bags.” She pulled the cat a little closer, grinning at the way it glared at her before she started scratching again and the little fur ball melted into her. “I see how it is. Can’t have people thinking you’re all cute and cuddly, hm? Can’t have people thinking you wanna cheer up the girl who took you in.” She cooed. “No, you’re a fearsome huntress and you don’t need nobody, right? Aw, look at you. Sleepy kitty.”

God, Carmilla hated herself even as she leaned into the touch. She’d had full-body massages that felt less relaxing than this and Laura’s lap was really nice and warm. Perfect scratching aside, though, she was hardly about to put up with the damned baby talk. Carmilla stretched, pawed at Laura’s thighs, and then very deliberately sank her claws into them.

“Ow! Bagheera!” The volume Laura reached hurt her ears, but Carmilla couldn’t help but feel a little satisfied.

“You better not have damaged my pants, missy.” Laura huffed, shifting the cat aside a bit to check. “I swear, if I didn’t think you’d murder me in my sleep, I’d have you declawed.”

Carmilla grinned to herself. The cupcake was welcome to try.

Laura eventually continued stroking Carmilla, who had resigned herself to being Laura’s fluffy therapist, while she read up for her journalism class. Honestly, if every day was like this, Carmilla honestly might not have minded being Laura’s pet cat.

She was annoying, but at least she was a loving pet owner. Carmilla just hoped that she never noticed that Carmilla kept throwing the very expensive cat food out of the window, just to make it seem like she’d eaten.

Hell, eating in general was kind of an issue. She could hardly stock Laura’s mini fridge with blood bags, so she had to swing by her apartment whenever she had a spare moment and drink enough to keep herself going. It was mainly annoying and it meant she spent a lot of her time either itching for a snack or downright hungry.

Just as she was drifting off for a literal catnap, she found herself lifted off of Laura’s lap and deposited on to bed. “Sorry, Bags, but I really need a shower.” Laura smiled apologetically as she jumped off the bed.

Carmilla felt her mouth go dry. Ah, yes, the other issue that made being Laura’s pet cat unexpectedly difficult.

Laura really wasn’t shy about undressing in front of her cat.

Now, Carmilla would grudgingly admit that some of her sensibilities from over three centuries ago had more or less survived, but she was hardly a prude. She’d had plenty of pretty women warming her bed, so this should have been a perk if anything. It should not have been a problem.

And yet, it sort of was.

Laura looked good. Very, very good. It was all smooth, unblemished skin and perfect curves on her tiny frame that proved to be very hard to look away from. Limbs with more muscle than she’d expected and a slender neck which Carmilla just couldn’t seem to get out of her mind.

Well, that and the fact that she now knew that Laura preferred to go bare. She was honestly a bit embarrassed by how long she’d lingered on that particular sight the first time this happened, but Laura had just gotten out of the shower and there was this healthy blush to her skin and there were water droplets sliding down as if guiding her hungry eyes to all of her most beautiful spots and just…woah.

With Laura’s scent lingering in the room, the sight of that flawless skin forever etched into her memory, and the sound of the shower in her ears, she’d had more than one fantasy of just joining Laura. Just shoving her against the tiles as the warm water ran down both of them so Carmilla could let her hands wander as they wanted to and feel for herself if Laura’s skin was as soft as it looked.

God, the way she would make her writhe in that shower. Hands exploring, chests pressed together, skin on skin and fingers teasing even as her fangs sank deep into Laura’s neck and sweet blood spilled on to her tongue. Of course, a fantasy was all it was. If she just appeared in Laura’s shower, Carmilla knew she’d be on the receiving end of a fair deal of screaming. Or a punch to the face.

Probably both, really. Nobody could say Laura wasn’t feisty.

It was, quite literally, just animalistic lust. Her cat form did kind of mess with her senses and instincts, hence why she tried to spend what time alone she got in her natural form.

Sadly, it had not diminished her lust for the cupcake quite as much as she expected.

So, yeah, it was something of an issue. Mainly because Carmilla couldn’t just bring herself to ignore it. Even now, she was watching Laura strip even as she berated herself mentally for it. It was pathetic, really. It wasn’t like she could just go deal with her frustration either. She barely had time to go home and eat, much less get herself off.

So here she was. Hungry, horny and living with someone who could provide a solution for both those issues, whom she couldn’t touch. Carmilla wasn’t too pleased that her plan had worked out as intended. The only time she really got to vent her frustration was during the ongoing mage attacks.

While Laura continued to look for the missing girls and research the part of the badge Carmilla had found, the mage attacks continued too. The good news was that the group was not quite as numerous as she’d first suspected. She soon came to recognize some by their voice and learned it was really the same five or six who kept trying to get at Laura, usually operating in teams of two.

The bad news was that they clearly had a healer, though not a very powerful one. Minor injuries would vanish between attacks, but she hadn’t seen the woman whose arm and side she’d shredded again.

They still mostly came at night and Carmilla had taken to just keeping watch in the hall in her panther form. Whatever spell they were trying to use on her still wasn’t working, but they were more willing to resort to other measures now. Nothing too destructive, thankfully, but more along the lines of hurling her about with invisible force. Of course, it took a lot to keep a vampire from the fight if that was the only string to your bow.

Some had attempted more complex magic, but that took time. Time Carmilla usually didn’t give them.

“Geez, Bags, stare a bit more why don’t you?” Laura broke Carmilla from her musing, making no move to cover herself as she walked naked through the dorm room in search of a towel. “It’s flattering to think that I might be giving someone a case of the gay, but I’d sort of hoped that if that ever happened, it wouldn’t be to my cat.”

 _‘Oh, Cupcake, you have no idea.’_ Carmilla thought, finally finding the strength to look away as Laura bent over. When the tiny and very naked journalism major finally left the room, Carmilla let out an annoyed huff. Stupid tiny human and her stupid body.

Laura thankfully changed in the bathroom after her shower and was watching some show on Netflix in her pyjamas with a tub of strawberry-chocolate ice cream in her lap when the ginger twins burst into the room. Carmilla still hadn’t figured out why nobody here bothered to knock.

“Hey Frosh!” Lafontaine said, waving a few papers around. “Got some results.” She took one look at Laura’s state and raised an eyebrow. “Though if you’re having another moment to mope about Danny, it can wait.”

“No, no it’s fine. What results?” Laura all but threw the ice cream away, a spark glinting in her eyes at the prospect of furthering their research. “And I wasn’t moping about Danny.”

“Lafontaine, be nice.” Perry chastised as she pushed past them to straighten the sheets Laura had rumpled when she jumped off the bed. “Laura and Danny need to work things out in their own time.” She reached for the yellow pillow Carmilla was resting on, but quickly jerked her hand back when the cat hissed at her.

Damned if Carmilla was moving to appease Suzy Homemaker.

“There’s nothing to work through!” Laura protested, throwing her hands up. “We weren’t dating! At least…I think.” She frowned in confusion but quickly shook it off again to focus on her point. “Look, Danny and I are not a thing, so can we focus on things that are things?”

Perry looked up from her work. “Oh, sweetie, I know. It’s just…I don’t think Danny’s ignoring you intentionally. She-”

“Means well, I know, Perr.” Laura sighed. “I just don’t want to talk about it, okay?” She said, her tone gentle but firm enough not to leave room for argument.

“Laura’s non-relationship drama aside…” Lafontaine tried to steer the conversation to a different topic. “I checked out the piece of the badge. Got some fingerprints, but not much else.” They held up a clear strip divided in three squares, one with a full print and two with partial prints. “I mean, it’s useless without something to compare it to, but…”

“That’s great, Laf.” Laura said, latching on to the new topic eagerly. “Even if we can’t use it right now, we can probably use it later.”

Lafontaine nodded and held up the papers with an eager grin. “That’s not all. I also got the listing of police badge numbers from Kirsch. I thought we could compare them with what’s left of the number on the badge. Oh, and we need to look at this too.” They said, digging the badge shard out of her pocket.

“What?!” Perry shot up from where she’d been collecting empty boxes of cookies from Laura’s desk. “Lafontaine! You said we’d just drop it off. There’s a ton of those and we have an 8am lecture.”

Carmilla grinned at the way the ginger geek seemed simultaneously annoyed at having their thunder stolen and guilty about drawing their counterpart’s ire. “Well, yeah, but Perr…”

“Is that another rune?” Laura asked, bending over Lafontaine’s outstretched hand. Carmilla tried to look as well, but couldn’t quite see what Laura was looking at. “Do you know what it means?”

“No.” The shorter of the two redheads frowned. “I mean, I can’t exactly google ‘weird squiggly lines’ and expect a good result, I suppose.” They sat down on the bed and looked expectantly at Laura. “I thought maybe you could deal with it.”

“Me?” Laura asked as she took the papers from Lafontaine and began looking through the numbers. “What could I possibly do?”

“Well, there’s that girl you wouldn’t stop talking about. You said she knew this stuff, right?” Laf asked, tentatively reaching for Carmilla to see if Carmilla would maul them if they tried to pet the cat. “Maybe talk to her?”

“Eh, I dunno, Laf.” Laura muttered, looking profoundly uncomfortable. “We didn’t really…part on good terms, I guess?”

“Laura, dear, I thought you weren’t on good terms with her in the first place.” Perry interjected, shooting Carmilla a nervous look before she continued to tidy up at a higher pace. “Surely she wouldn’t mind helping?”

Laura snorted. “Perry, you’ve met her. Does Carmilla strike you as the ‘happy to help’ type?”

The redhead shot Carmilla another nervous glance and the cat gave her a deadpan stare, flicking her tail back and forth as if daring her to say something. “I…Well, only once and…I suppose not. She is a bit…intense.”

“That’s one word for it.” The honey blonde girl took the piece of the badge from Laf to compare the half of the ID number to those on the paper. “I prefer to say she’s a callous, lonely girl with her head up her ass. It’s a bit sad, really. I mean…she did offer to drive when she didn’t have to. I dunno.”

“Maybe it’s not that far up her ass.” Lafontaine mumbled with a cheeky grin. “You would know. You’ve mentioned it often enough.”

 “She wears very tight leather!” Laura protested, her face bright red. “Now come on. We have, like, a ton of these to go through and some ancient Sumerian squiggles to research.” She divided the papers between Lafontaine, a reluctant Perry and herself, and plopped down between Laf and Carmilla. Absently, she reached for Carmilla as she read, only to look up in surprise when the cat dodged her fingers and jumped off the bed.

“I guess she’s done being cuddly.” The tiny journalism major muttered, watching her cat trot away.

Perry shot Carmilla an apologetic look that only served to increase the vampire-turned-cat’s ire before turning back to Laura. “Oh, let her be. Now, what was our half of the number again?”

Meanwhile, Carmilla had stalked over to the cupboards, her posture tense and angry. Callous and lonely, huh? She’d give Laura the first part, but it was the presumptuous tone she had taken that really set her teeth on edge. What did an 18-year old child like her know anyway?

That naivety was occasionally cute, but in moments like this it was grating at best. It kept Laura from seeing that just because other people didn’t pretend life was filled with kittens, rainbows and happy endings, they didn’t have to be miserable.

Assuming she was lonely got on her nerves most of all. Carmilla was _not_ lonely. She was just…alone. A lot. There was a difference and either way she didn’t need Laura Hollis’ damn pity.

As she couldn’t just transform and yell at her, the vampire had to find another way to get back at the cupcake. Something pretty petty, but which would be satisfying nonetheless. She hopped up on to the counter and, with flexibility even a regular cat shouldn’t have possessed, opened one of the cupboards and tugged out a half-empty package of cookies.

With some difficulty, she managed to drag her prize to the floor, where she began to devour Laura’s precious cookies. Carmilla wasn’t above hitting the girl where it hurt. Certainly not in her current mood. And hey, she got free cookies and it would piss the cupcake off. As far as she was concerned, it was a double win.

Carmilla was halfway through what remained of the box, when Laura shrieked behind her.

“BAGHEERA! THOSE ARE EXPENSIVE!...AND YUMMY!”

Ah, it was the little things in life.

Even with those little things, though, Carmilla found herself still pretty annoyed later that evening. Lafontaine finally couldn’t keep Perry from freaking out about their early lecture any longer and let the Guardian Angel drag them back to their dorm. Laura had kept up with her fruitless research into the rune for a bit longer before she finally gave up around 2AM.

“You know, it would’ve been great if the occult involved less ancient languages and runes. I mean, why can’t the default language for dark magic be French?” She complained, slumping against the wall and glaring at her laptop. She turned to Carmilla. “I take it cats can’t read Sumerian?”

Carmilla let out a bored meow.

“Yeah, didn’t think so.” Laura ran a hand over her face. “God, I’m actually going to have to ask Carmilla for help.” She whined. “I really wanted to avoid that.” She stood up to put away her laptop and caught Carmilla’s unimpressed look as she did. “Oh, c’mon, Bags don’t look at me like that.” The tiny honey-blonde student pouted. “It’s gonna be really awkward, okay?”

Laura flopped down in her desk chair and gestured dramatically at nothing, talking more to herself now than to anyone else. “I just don’t _get_ Carmilla. She acts all disaffected and then offers to drive me to get SJ. Not to mention that she just…gets under my skin.” A look of shame crossed her face. “And maybe I was kinda hard on her when I don’t know her. I mean, she was probably just scared. Hell, I’m kind of scared. I keep thinking people are watching me.”

Carmilla tilted her head inquisitively. Apparently the cupcake wasn’t entirely oblivious, even if she was more right than she knew.

“And of course she’s hot.” Laura’s tone made it clear that she found this to be deeply unfair. “And flirty, even though it’s obviously just for fun. But she doesn’t push. Like there’s this line beyond the occasional comment she just won’t cross. It’s sweet, in a way.” She paused and let out a dry chuckle. “God, Danny would already be ranting if she heard me talking like that. She’d probably say that I’m being too nice again and telling me to just ignore Carmilla when she doesn’t even know her.”

She was silent for a while after that. “Though I guess I’ve kinda done that too. I barely know Carmilla and I’m judging her.” After a few more seconds of contemplative silence Laura suddenly sprang out her chair. “Well, no more of that! That’s not who I want to be. Tomorrow is going to be a new start for Carmilla and me and I’m gonna ask her for help like an adult.” She smiled proudly for a moment before deflating. “Eh, if she shows up, that is.”

Carmilla allowed the girl to quickly pet her head and then watched her as she crawled under the covers. This certainly didn’t get Laura of the hook entirely, but…Carmilla couldn’t quite recall the last time someone had actually put effort into dealing with her. Her attitude didn’t earn her a lot of second chances, normally.

Yet this naïve little creampuff was trying. Again, Carmilla certainly wasn’t letting her off the hook yet, but it was a start and a damn sight more than she’d gotten from anyone in a long time. So perhaps she’d try too.

Of course, she hadn’t really considered that ‘trying’ would have to start the very next evening, as Laura had another shift at the café. Carmilla waited around an hour after the start of her shift before she walked in and threw herself down in her usual spot.

Something was different about it this time, though. One of the café’s fancy red velvet cupcakes was waiting on the table. Carmilla looked around to see who had the balls to sit in a spot she’d so clearly claimed over the past week, but found nobody.

“Hey, Carmilla.”

She turned to find Laura standing at her table, nervously fiddling with a menu. “Hey, Cupcake. No spiel today?” Carmilla drawled, resting her chin on her palm. Trying was all fine and good, but Laura would have to be the one to start.

The fiddling increased and Laura opened and closed her mouth twice. “I, eh…Yeah, not today.” She glanced from Carmilla to the cupcake and back, before taking a deep breath and finding some buried reservoir of determination. “I wanted to apologize…about last week.” She began. “I still don’t agree with some of the things you said, but I think I was kind of harsh with you when you were helping me. So, eh, sorry. I got you a cupcake.”

She pointed lamely at the treat and Carmilla arched an eyebrow. “Well, I can appreciate that you picked something fitting at least.”

A thin smile pulled at Laura’s lips. “Yeah, I thought you’d like that.” She ran a hand through her hair and gave Carmilla a pleading look. “I just…realized I haven’t been fair and I don’t want to be like that. So I’d like to get to know you better, eh, if you want to. I mean, it’s cool if you don’t. You’re probably just here to have a quiet place at night or something and I already made that kinda shitty last week and I’m only making it worse now and oh god I never even asked if you were okay after last week ‘cause I was pretty shaken and I couldn’t even tell my dad because he’d freak and-”

“Creampuff, you’re actually turning blue now.” Carmilla said with no small hint of amusement. She laughed softly as Laura took a deep and sorely needed breath. “I don’t really agree with you either, but I don’t think we’ll convince each other there.”

Laura scoffed, but her smile was hopeful. “Please, you’ve got no idea how convincing I can be.”

Carmilla couldn’t let that one slide. The vampire arched an eyebrow and gave the waitress a sultry smile. “Really?” She waited until the implication had sunk in and Laura turned bright red before she continued. “That aside, I’m not gonna do the whole BFF thing just because you brought me a cupcake.”

“Oh. Oh, okay.” Laura muttered.

Carmilla watched the hope drain away for a moment, trying to ignore the little voice in her head shouting at her to just get it over with so she didn’t feel like she’d just kicked a puppy. Eventually she sighed and, wondering when she’d lost her spine, turned to look away from Laura. “ _But,_ I guess we could get to know each other?”

“Really?!”

“Just don’t expect me to start doing your nails, Cupcake.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to hurt your goth cred.” Laura joked as she slid into the booth across from Carmilla. “I don’t think I have any black nail polish and I bet your friends would never talk to you if you showed up with anything more colourful than grey.” When Carmilla gave her a surprised look and pointedly looked around, she shrugged. “What? It’s a really quiet night and I figured we could get to know each other right now. Strike while the iron’s hot and all that, right?”

Carmilla rolled her eyes, but gave the shorter girl a smile. “Alright, Cupcake, but that means I expect you to start so you better have a plan.”

“You bet your leather pants I do.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. how'd you like that, then?
> 
> I had a serious debate with myself along the lines of 'longer chapters, less frequently or shorter chapters, more frequently', but then it sort of became a moot point when I considered how far off another good cut-off point would be. 
> 
> That's not to say I'm unhappy with this chapter. I've had to adjust my timeline a bit to ensure I can stick to the golden rule of "show, don't tell" as much as possible, but I think that's only been a positive change. Not that my timeline is super detailed or anything XD The only thing I know for sure is that this will be a fair bit longer than I originally thought it would be.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed reading! Let me know if there's anything you particularly liked or something which you think just didn't work! 
> 
> SirPrize's Shower Thoughts (#4)
> 
> Fanfiction Pet Peeves: Summaries.
> 
> I figured I'd talk about the most nit-picky one first, mainly because it shouldn't annoy me as much as it does.
> 
> People, at least put some modicum of effort in your story summary!
> 
> I see so many summaries that include some variation on "Summary sucks, but the story's good, I swear, lol". Right away, this kind of shows a lack of faith in your story or maybe a lack of thought, if you're finding it so hard to summarize. A summary doesn't have to reveal everything, but it should entice a reader. If you can't be bothered to tell me why your story deserves to be read, why should I read it?
> 
> I'm not saying it's easy. I certainly agonize over it every time, but...Look, at least go forth with some measure of confidence. Falling flat on your face is a lot less embarrasing if you do it without dramatically screaming and flailing first. 
> 
> Trust in your story, guys, and it shall put its trust in you!
> 
> ...Only it won't, because it's an inanimate piece of text and...Look, you know where I was going with that!


	5. Cupcakes and Fried Vampires

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeelllooooo Creampuffs!
> 
> Been a while. I had to take some time to get some affairs in order and, more importantly, nothing I wrote felt right for a while there. I've torpedoed this particular chapter multiple times before I settled on this version. 
> 
> Anyway, as always, thank you guys so much for leaving comments and kudos! And of course a shout-out to my lovely beta, smartassducky! 
> 
> Welcome to chapter 5, Creampuffs. I hope you'll enjoy!

Carmilla was angry with Laura. Sure, she was putting in effort now, but the cupcake had been annoying and presumptuous about things she couldn’t possibly understand and she wasn’t off the hook yet.

That being said, Laura was making it very hard to remember that. They had exchanged getting to know you questions for a while, until the waitress really couldn’t ignore her job any longer. Laura had done her best to ignore Carmilla’s snarkier answers and had seemed genuinely impressed when she learned that the vampire was a freelance photographer.

“That’s really cool! I mean, any jackass with a high quality camera and Photoshop can take a decent picture these days. I imagine it’s hard just to survive in a field like that and you’re clearly doing pretty well.”

Carmilla honestly hadn’t looked at the job that way. It was just a job. One of many she’d had over the centuries and one she mainly picked because of the flexible hours and because she was fairly good at it. The whole thing had never really struck her as something to be proud of.

There was little she learned about Laura that living as her cat hadn’t already shown Carmilla, but she played her role all the same and nodded politely or asked questions at the right moments. It was funny to see that, while she was excited at first when Carmilla grudgingly admitted to liking Harry Potter, Laura was almost personally offended that the dark-haired girl refused to at least try Doctor Who.

“Just when I thought you had some taste too.” Laura sighed dramatically, a smile pulling at her lips. “All those fancy books you’ve read and yet you can’t spot good TV. Does it hurt your mysterious, gothic seductress vibe if someone sees you having fun or something?”

“You have a very skewed perception of the words taste and fun, sweetheart.” Carmilla drawled with a small smirk. “Though it’s nice to know you find me mysterious and seductive.”

As expected, Laura began to blush and stammer.

“W-well, I mean...like you don’t play that up on purpose.” She muttered defensively, before quickly steering the conversation back on track. “I just wonder what could have twisted your sense of childhood wonder so. Were you raised by nuns or something? That would certainly explain the attitude.”

Carmilla’s smile wavered and a look of concern passed over the honey-blonde waitress’ face, but Carmilla quickly cut in before she could apologize for saying the wrong thing.

“Eh, not nuns, no.” The vampire muttered, trying to find her good humor again. Nuns probably would’ve been preferable, but that didn’t seem like the best thing to add if she wanted to avoid the questions she could already feel forming in Laura’s head. “But not much of an environment for childhood wonder either. Clearly I’ve been terribly deprived and was burdened with a sense of actual taste, unlike you.”

Laura eyed her for another second, but then scoffed and shook her head.

“Actual taste. See, this is why you need a good dose of the doctor.”  She was ten minutes into a rant about all the wonderful adventures and positive messages of the show when her boss finally came out to question why Laura had taken a fifty minute break. That was probably a good thing, considering the fact that the honey-blonde girl had seemed set to continue for at least another twenty minutes.

“Listen…” Laura began, looking a little guilty as she stood up to continue her job. “I didn’t do this just because I need something from you, I promise. I really did want to get to know you…but we also really need your help.” She dug around in her pocket for a minute and then pulled out a picture of the symbol Lafontaine had found yesterday.

“You managed to work the other one out. We were hoping you knew what this one meant too.” Laura smiled wryly. “I know you didn’t really want to get involved, so no pressure, but…”

Carmilla sighed and took the picture. “Still playing Lois Lane? It’s going to get you killed, Cupcake.” The words didn’t really carry the venom she wanted them to. As with the previous symbol, she knew enough to identify it as Sumerian in nature but couldn’t immediately identify its meaning.

Laura ignored the comment and simply looked at her hopefully until the vampire let out a heavy sigh. “Are you going to do something stupid with this?”

“Of course not.” Laura bit her lip as she shook her head, looking as innocent as she could.

 _‘So yes, then._ _’_ Carmilla resisted the urge to roll her eyes and pulled out her phone. “Fine, but when this all goes to hell, you don’t get to blame me.” She muttered as she looked up the Sumerian alphabet. She was going to need a little help to make sure she got it right given the number of small, interconnected runes.

Laura squealed and moved as if to hug her, but seemed to think better of it at the last second and awkwardly patted her shoulder as she moved to help a different table. “Thank you so much, Carmilla.”

It didn’t take Carmilla as long as she had feared it would to decipher the meaning behind the runes. For all of humanity’s flaws, the internet was a wonderful thing. However, she was hardly in the mood to feel smug about it. If she had translated it correctly, this was very, very bad news indeed.

“So, did you find anything?”

She looked up the find Laura standing at her table again, looking a little more frazzled and coffee-stained than before but no less hopeful. With another sigh, she gestured for the younger girl to take a seat and raised an eyebrow in surprise when she plopped down on the bench next to her, their shoulders pressing together slightly.

Eager not to get wrapped up in how warm the girl was and to stop herself from staring, Carmilla quickly turned back to her phone and the translation she’d scribbled on a napkin.

“Long story short, lots of crap coming together to make this rune. Just like last time. Short version, it’s a way to use a god’s power for protection of some sort. There should be other runes to mention what it’s meant to protect someone from, but I think those got cut off. I think it does mention which god, but I can’t translate this symbol. I’ve never seen it and I can’t find it anywhere either.”

Laura’s eyes widened. “A god? Like, old testament God with the lightning and the fire and brimstone?” She asked turning the napkin a bit to look at the translation.

“Older. Much older.” Carmilla muttered.

Laura ran a hand over her face. “Great, so apparently there’s some sort of nutcase in the police who thinks he can appeal to some ancient god for non-existent magical powers.”

Carmilla chuckled and nudged Laura. “I think you’d have been all for someone trying to discover magic, Cupcake. Aren’t you still waiting for your Hogwarts acceptance letter?” As long as actual magic still seemed like the ridiculous option, hopefully the creampuff wouldn’t dig too deep into the subject.

“Not when that someone is going around doing god knows what.” Laura glared at Carmilla. “And I was only a little disappointed when I turned 11 and didn’t get one.”

“I bet you sulked for a week.”

“…Shut up.” She shoved the vampire and turned back to her translation. “At least we know, now. I suppose we should research Sumerian gods or something?” At Carmilla’s nod she continued, a bit more confidently. “Yeah, maybe there’s some sort of information on a ritual he’s performing or something. I mean, he’s clearly nuts but he’s doing this for his god, right?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think this god would like him very much.” Carmilla traced part of the lettering inside of the rune with her finger. “This part makes it less of a question and…I guess more of a demand. Whoever made this certainly wasn’t asking politely.”

Laura shrugged. “Well, it might still give us a clue. I’ll talk to my friends when my shift ends.”

Carmilla looked at the clock and found that the end of Laura’s shift was in 15 minutes. Deciding it was best to get home first so she couldn’t get caught sneaking in, she nodded and turned to the tiny waitress. “Okay. Either way, I have to get going.”

“Oh, right.” Laura quickly made way, clutching her tray as she watched Carmilla gather her things. “Hey, listen…I know I already said it, but I really am sorry. I hate it when people just…assume things.” She frowned and made a vague gesture. “About me or my friends. And yet I did the exact same thing to you. That wasn’t fair.”

With her jacket half on, Carmilla let her head drop back to stare at the ceiling. _‘Goddammit._ _’_ With fresh reluctance, she began to mumble. “I’m sorry too, okay?”

“Geez, it really sounds like you mean that.” The honey-blonde girl drawled sarcastically.

Carmilla’s turned her gaze from the ceiling to Laura. “Cupcake, do I look like I do the apology thing a lot? What you’re seeing is rare and probably a one-time deal.” Her expression softened a little. “So, yeah, sorry.”

Laura laughed softly and shook her head. “Well, crappy apology aside…” She began, smirking. “I did enjoy getting to know you better. Maybe we can talk again, the next time you stop by?” It came out fairly casual, but it stood in stark contrast to the nervous hope shining in her eyes.

It was adorable, really. If she hadn’t been contractually stuck with the girl for another two weeks anyway, Carmilla might’ve honestly had a hard time saying no to that face. “I think I’d like that very much.” She murmured, surprised by how husky her own voice sounded.”

“Yes!” Laura cringed at her own enthusiasm. “I mean, cool. Maybe you can tell me why you know so much about ancient Sumerian…and its use in occult crap like this.” She pointed at the napkin, expression curious. “It’s kinda weird that you know this.”

Carmilla chuckled. “Oh, I don’t think so. Gotta keep some of my secrets.” She leaned in a little until she was just barely in the shorter girl’s personal space. “Otherwise I’ll lose my air of mystery, won’t I?” She probably got more gratification out of hearing Laura’s heartbeat speed up than she should have, but Carmilla couldn’t really bring herself to care.

It was fun and the animalistic part of her was shouting at her to just reach out and take what she wanted. To claim what should be hers. To fill some sort of need that was neither hunger nor lust, but certainly had the hallmarks of both. _‘It would be so easy._ _’_ She shook the thought off and pulled back with a smile that wasn’t quite wide enough to show off the fact that her fangs had descended.

“See you around, Creampuff.” She crooned, before she turned around and left the waitress confused and blushing bright red in the middle of the café. She badly wanted to drag her to the bathroom, just to get Laura out of her system, but she was pretty sure that wasn’t how the shorter girl did things. Laura was still searching for that love people wrote novels about and which nobody ever really found. Quick, uncomplicated sex probably didn’t exist in her world.

That didn’t stop Carmilla from picturing how fantastic it would be if it did as she left the café, though.

Her good mood lasted until she’d poofed herself back to Laura’s dorm room. The weight of the situation hit like the sudden darkness of the room after the bright street lights of the city centre. What she’d seen up until now was, for lack of a better word, magic for suckers. Things you made beginners do over and over just to give them a grasp of the basics.

This rune was different. Not only was it pretty advanced magic, she had sort of underplayed the rune’s effect. It wasn’t so much demanding protection as it was extorting it. Not impossible, or so mother dearest had believed, but absurdly dangerous.

That being said, Carmilla had never thought to inquire how exactly one would go about that. It had seemed a particularly powerful combination of unnecessary and foolish at the time. _‘Hindsight is 20/20, right?_ _’_ She thought bitterly.

With a dramatic groan she flopped down on Laura’s bed and buried her face into the girl’s yellow pillow. Okay, so she wasn’t just dealing with mages, but mages of the religiously fanatic sort. That was fine. Only two more weeks until it wasn’t her problem anymore and Guardian Angel Lawrence could take over. It was all fine. Sort of.

Surprisingly, it actually was for a while.

The mages didn’t make an appearance for a few days and Carmilla even got some time to herself, as Laura and the two gingers searched the library for any book on Sumerian religion they could find. It allowed her to eat a bit more than the quick meals she’d resigned herself to since she’d taken up residence as Laura’s cat.

Sometime was also spent in Laura’s shower for a session with her fingers that didn’t provide near the relief the frustrated vampire had hoped it would. It barely took the edge off and, when she had to watch Laura walk into the shower Carmilla had vacated only hours earlier, she swore that it had only made things worse.

Evenings were still spent at the café more often than not, but that wasn’t really the chore it had been when this all started anymore. Laura was evidently very serious about starting over and did her best to actually get to know Carmilla as much as the vampire would let her. She’d had to lie more this week than in the past month, but maybe that’s because she hadn’t talked to anyone quite this much in a while.

Not that Carmilla had really changed her mind. Laura was still incredibly naïve and either unwilling or unable to see that the world existed in shades of grey. However, that had somehow gone from annoying to endearing. It almost bordered on admirable at times.

The girl wanted the world to be good so very, very badly. At times Carmilla saw the hesitance and the questions in her eyes, but that was always chased out by determination. Laura knew that the world had its darker side, much as she tried to ignore it, but that didn’t stop her. She honestly seemed to believe that, with some help, anyone could set out to achieve what they wanted to and make things better.

She wasn’t going to pine for the world she imagined. She was going to drag out the parts that had to change for that world to exist so that, by god, she could just be a little bit closer.

Carmilla caught herself hoping that the tiny journalist-to-be would never lose that fire and determination. A foolish, stupid thought. She’d seen so many people with big ambitions and good intentions get beat down. Life had a way of doing that.

Yet there was a tiny voice at the back of her mind. It spoke up in her least guarded moments, trying to shake her beliefs with its whispers. It told her that, while they’d wanted the same things, none of those people had been quite like Laura.

At the very least, there certainly had never been anyone who had been able to make Carmilla feel almost okay about being a pet. Not only did she and Laura have a new understanding as people, they also had one as pet and owner, though that last one had been less explicit.

Laura wouldn’t bother Carmilla for cuddles all the time and in return Carmilla would curl up in her lap while she studied. Laura wouldn’t mention Carmilla purring whenever she did consent to being cuddled and Carmilla wouldn’t shred her underwear in retaliation. Carmilla wouldn’t eat Laura’s cookies and Laura wouldn’t lock her out of the room for hours.

Okay, so she broke that last rule a lot. It was fine, though. As long as she didn’t do it in front of Laura, the cupcake couldn’t pin it on the vampire-turned-cat. She’d learned to store them in a cupboard no cat should have been able to reach, after all.

She hadn’t really expected to hear Laura talking about her much, though. Let alone talking about Carmilla to Carmilla in her cat form. At least it wasn’t presumptuous or pitying again. While occasionally annoyed, Laura had more kind things to say about her these days. It soon turned out that Carmilla hadn’t been the only one to notice.

“She even had pictures of this really sweet family.” Laura said, flipping through a book on Sumerian history. She’d been telling Lafontaine and Perry stories of her last chat with Carmilla, in which she’d convinced the vampire to show her some of her work. “She kept whining about how the kid wouldn’t hold still, but he looked so cute.” She added with a fond smile.

Lafontaine and Perry exchanged a look and Perry then shot Carmilla an uncomfortable look as the ginger scientist turned to Laura. “Hey, Laura? What are you doing?”

The journalism major looked up, confused. “Research, like you?” She gestured at the book open in Lafontaine’s lap. “Why?”

“I think what Lafontaine is trying to say...” Perry quickly cut in, eyeing the mischievous grin forming on her charge’s face nervously. “Is that you’ve just mentioned Carmilla a lot recently.”

Laura’s eyes darted between the two redheads as she sat up. “Well, yeah. I did mention that I was trying to get to know her.” She said, eyeing them suspiciously. “I mean, I can stop talking about it if I was boring you.”

“Oh honey, no.” Perry rushed to reassure her friend. “No that’s not it.”

“I think what you’re doing is kinda cool, frosh. Nobody likes admitting they were wrong about someone.” Lafontaine added with a honest smile that soon made way again for that obnoxious grin. “It’s just that we were expecting the ranting about how annoying Carmilla can be and how she likes to mess with you, but we weren’t really expecting the gushing.”

Laura gaped at them, color quickly filling her cheeks. “I-There has been no _gushing!_ There has been an absence of gushing!” Her protest just drew loud laughter from Lafontaine, so she turned to Perry to find the floor don offering her a sympathetic smile.

“I’m sorry sweety, but there has been at least some gushing.” She said, trying and failing not to let her amusement show at Laura’s anger.

“Some?” Lafontaine snorted. “There hasn’t been this much gushing since she went to see Danny work out.” They watched Laura splutter for a moment and waved off her half-formed excuses. “Relax, it’s not like you have obligations or anything. Well, maybe to at least talk to Danny.” The redhead paused and frowned for a moment. “Maybe a talk with less shouting, this time.”

“That has nothing to do with this.” Laura protested, glaring at her friends. “I’m not _replacing_ Danny just because I’m getting to know Carmilla.” She crossed her arms over. “Nor am I automatically dating her just because we’re talking like adults now, rather than sniping at each other. What are we, five?”

Laf and Perry glanced at each other again and the ginger scientist let out a sigh. “Look, Laura, we’re not saying that.”  They muttered, rubbing the back of their head.

“Nor are we trying to say anything about you and Danny.” Perry added, looking genuinely contrite.

“Right.” Lafontaine nodded. “I mean, I’m not the biggest fan of Danny at times so I certainly won’t tell you what to do there. It’s just better to try to talk now that you’re both a bit calmer, okay?” They waited for Laura to nod, albeit grudgingly, before continuing. “We are a little worried about Carmilla, though.”

Perry shot Carmilla an apologetic look, before turning to Lafontaine with a frown. “Sweety, I told you I really don’t agree with you there.” She said sternly.

“Fine. _I_ _’m_ worried, then.” Lafontaine rolled their eyes. “This girl appears out of nowhere not long after the first of these girls goes missing and she just happens to know all about ancient Sumerian and this occult crap?” They shrugged. “It’s a bit convenient, don’t you think?”

A flash of hesitation passed over Laura’s face and Carmilla tried not to think about why that hurt. “Oh come on.” Laura muttered. “Carmilla’s been helping us, remember? She translated the meaning of those runes for us.”

Lafontaine didn’t look convinced, so Perry spoke up as well. “And we double checked that, remember? I mean, just Googling until we could put it together ourselves probably wasn’t a great translation, but it did sort of match what Carmilla said. Plus, when SJ…disappeared, Laura was driving Carmilla. She couldn’t have done it.”

“We’ve found nothing that suggests this is all one person.” Lafontaine argued with a shake of her head. “Plus you said she’s at the café like every night. Doesn’t she have anything better to do? Is she ever even there when you’re not working?”

“I…don’t know.” Laura muttered. The hesitance was back and she bit her lip as she thought. “Laf, come on, we can’t make assumptions just because she has weird interests.”

The redhead’s expression showed quite clearly what they thought of that, but eventually they nodded. “Okay, but do you mind if I do some research just in case?”

Perry’s head snapped up at that and she pointed at Lafontaine. “No more hacking government databases!”

Lafontaine cringed.  “Aw, but Perr…”

“No!”

“It’s not the government this time, I promise. Not technically anyway.”

“ _Technically?!_ _”_

“And I thought Dad was overprotective.” Laura muttered as she turned back to her book.

Carmilla watched the girl a little longer, studying the conflicted expression and the eyes that weren’t really taking in the heavy tome’s text anymore. Whether Laura had really taken the words to heart or not, she couldn’t say, but the wanna-be journalist was inquisitive by nature and clearly this had at least been enough to raise some questions.

Carmilla wanted to be more annoyed by that but, honestly, she couldn’t really fault ginger #2 for bringing it up. With as little to work with as they had, it probably did look pretty suspicious. Thankfully, however, she had a pretty solid alibi and they had no way to prove otherwise.

Satisfied that it wasn’t really a matter for concern, she stood up from Laura’s yellow pillow. On her way  to the edge of the bed, she butted her head against her side and drew a distracted smile from the cupcake. Not a lot better, but if she let her stew too long Laura would inevitably use her as a fluffy therapist again.

Not to mention that it sort of bothered her to see the cupcake looking down. It just didn’t fit somehow. Not that it really mattered to Carmilla personally. Of course not. It was just like…seeing a painting hanging crooked on the wall. You just felt an instinctual urge to straighten it. That was all it was.

She leapt off the bed and landed on Lafontaine, who had stretched out on her stomach with a book. Revelling in the way the redhead jerked in surprise and pointedly ignoring Perry’s disapproving glare, she pushed off again and landed daintily on the floor.

A little annoyed was still annoyed, after all.

The next evening she found herself in the café again, exchanging banter with Laura while the honey-blonde waitress tended to the few people who came by so late at night.

“You cannot be serious.” Laura said with a disbelieving smile. “No way is anyone actually that cheap.”

“Cupcake, this woman was, I swear.” Carmilla drawled, gesturing at her phone. “Scout’s honour.” The picture opened on her phone was another family portrait of a family that was obviously quite well off, all dressed in finely tailored suits and gowns. The youngest of the women was clearly very pregnant, the swell of her stomach creating a pronounced bulge in her red dress.

Laura leaned in to look at the picture again, shaking her head. “I seriously doubt you were ever a scout. They don’t give out badges for snark.” She muttered. “Are you seriously telling me her water broke?”

“Yep.” She popped the p and let out a sigh. “And instead of doing the sane thing and going to the hospital, she insisted on finishing the shoot.” The vampire sipped the vile coffee with vanilla extract Laura had brought for her this time and shuddered both at the memory and the taste. “No, Mother, we have spent good money on this and I will not see it go to waste simply because of some poor timing.” She mocked, affecting an overly posh British accent.

“Carm!” Laura laughed, swatting at her shoulder. “Maybe you’re just far too expensive if that was her first reaction. Didn’t think of that, huh?” She teased.

“Excuse you?” Carmilla feigned indignation. “I will have you know I made it very clear that we could simply reschedule at no added cost. Besides, quality has a price.” She leaned her chin on her palm. “Haven’t you ever seen something that you knew would cost you, but just looked so _good?_ _”_

Laura’s eyes darted up from the photograph, lingered on her suggestive grin and then on something that definitely wasn’t her face before they shot back to the picture self-consciously . “Well, Dad was pretty strict about things like that. Pretty strict in general, really.” Laura swallowed and smiled nervously. “Anyway, this one came out fine-"

She was cut off when the Star Wars theme began to blare from her phone and she had to fish around for it in her apron.

“Really, Cupcake?” The dark-haired girl chuckled. “Star Wars?”

“It seemed fitting for Laf.” Laura shrugged as she finally found the phone and quickly dialed the noise down. “I really should take this, though.” She added with a guilty smile. She stood up and walked back toward the kitchen with her phone to her ear. “Laf? Eh, yeah, she…Slow down, Laf. What pictures?”

Carmilla watched her go curiously, but didn’t question the phone call further. If past experiences were anything to go on, Lafontaine had either found another potential lead or they had blown up their room and needed someone to distract Perry while they fixed it.

Laura came back a few minutes later, looking tense. She shot Carmilla a nervous smile and then quickly busied herself on the other side of the café. They didn’t speak for the rest of the evening, which Carmilla found herself a bit disappointed by. _‘It wouldn_ _’t be terrible if, after this is over, the cupcake and I can at least get along._ _’_ She thought to herself. Laura wasn’t all bad, after all.

Eventually Laura’s shift ended and she stopped by Carmilla’s table on her way out. “So, I’m off. Long way to walk and all. Alone. Through dark alleys.” The waitress rambled, looking anywhere but at Carmilla as she struggled with her coat.

“Cupcake, are you okay? Did you snort sugar in the kitchen?” Carmilla asked, attempting to sound annoyed more than concerned as she studied the sudden shift in Laura’s mood. “You seem twitchy.”

Laura finally looked at her and for a moment she seemed conflicted, but then she shook her head and zipped up her coat. “I’m fine! I’m not twitchy. There is an absence of twitching.” She only seemed to grow more nervous when Carmilla smiled lazily at her. “Anyway, gotta go. Walking to do. See you, bye!” The younger girl rushed out of the door, leaving a bemused vampire behind.

Normally Carmilla either poofed herself back to the room at this point, or she waited five minutes and followed Laura until she made it back to her dorm. This time she didn’t even make it a minute before her blood turned to ice in her veins from her wrist down. _‘Dammit, Cupcake._ _’_

She threw money on the table and all but ran out of the door after Laura. Thankfully, the journalism major wasn’t hard to find. Unfortunately, she picked the darkest route with the worst lighting and the most alleys to get home.

“Because of course she did.” Carmilla grumbled.

What was even more unfortunate was that there was someone else out tonight. Nearly twice the small waitress’ size and blessed with very broad shoulders, the blonde man nevertheless moved silently down the street. He kept a respectable distance for a time, but when Laura decided to take a shortcut down an alley, he sped up and followed her.

Carmilla cursed and quickly moved to follow as well. As she turned the corner, she was just in time to see him pull something made of metal out from under his coat and point it at the oblivious cupcake. “Hey!” The shout had left her lips without her consent even before she began to move. Idiotic. A complete waste of the element of surprise, as was proven almost immediately when the man turned to the origin of the noise.

She grabbed him by the wrist but, before she could turn his hand away, the man jumped at seeing something moving at vampiric speed and reflexively fired. There was a loud bang and the dark-haired vampire hissed as the bullet tore through the center of her waist and sent a bolt of agony through her system.

With a bestial hiss she bared her fangs, eyes shining maliciously. “Oh, you’ll regret that.” She promised, before she crushed his hand and the weapon dropped from useless fingers. Before he even had a chance to cry out, she lifted him off his feet and slammed him against the side of the alley hard enough to crack the mortar.

“Last time this didn’t go so well, but I’ve learned since then.” She sneered at her prey. “Rest assured that I’ll tear out a rib every time you try to blow yourself up.” She dug her fingers in under the ribcage and tugged for good measure. “So you’re going to answer some questions.”

“Carmilla?!”

The vampire sighed and turned to find Laura staring at her, mouth agape. The tiny waitress’ eyes kept darting from the obvious bullet wound, which was steadily bleeding, to the gun and finally the bear of a man Carmilla was holding up with clear ease. “I…What in Hell or Hogwarts-DID HE SHOOT YOU?!”

“It’s just a fleshwound.” She snapped, possibly more aggressively than intended, but she was pissed. Getting shot had a tendency to put a damper on her mood. “Cupcake, I’ll deal with you in a second.”

The man let out a noise somewhere between an agonized groan and a laugh. “And here we thought she just had a particularly loyal one.” He turned to Laura and gave her a dazed grin, his teeth stained with blood from where they’d slammed shut on his tongue. “Had trouble getting the pecking order right with your pet?”

Laura and Carmilla shared a glanced that confirmed they both didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, before his struggling sent a particularly painful twinge through the vampire’s system. “You’re not very smart, huh?”  She muttered darkly. “Here’s why you don’t piss of your supernatural captor.” She tugged and there was a sickening crunch as his rib snapped under the force, followed by his howl of agony.

“Carmilla!” Laura yelled, wide eyes trained on the man as he gasped for air through the mind numbing pain. “Stop it!”

The growl that left the vampire’s throat wasn’t a sound a human could make and with her fangs bared she turned to glare at Laura. She’d just gotten shot. Sure, it wasn’t lethal, but it still hurt like a bitch and the least the little mortal could do was let Carmilla get some payback. “Cupcake, I swear to God, if you don’t…”

“Sorry, I’m late! I was getting-HOLY SHIT!”

A very familiar redhead came racing around the corner on the other end of the alley and stopped dead in their tracks. Lafontaine looked from Laura, to the man and finally to Carmilla. The moment her eyes locked on the fangs and the bullet hole, they raised the boxy black thing they held in their hand.

At the press off a button, two tiny darts shot out and embedded themselves in the vampire’s arm. That tiny sting was soon drowned out by something far worse though, as electricity coursed through the wires and the darts into her system.

Immediately all of Carmilla’s muscles seized up and twitched beyond her control and a bestial hiss left her throat as her legs gave way and she dropped to the floor. As she writhed, her world narrowed to the feel of the rough stone against her back and the hot flashes of agony, which made her writhe like she was being branded. Finally it let up and she lifted her head with some difficulty.

“Ginger #2, you’re going to regret that.” Carmilla croaked. “I’m going to tear your-zzugh!” The writhing and the agony started all over again and Carmilla would’ve curled into a ball if she’d had the muscle control. After what was either a minute or 1000 years the electricity stopped again and she was left barely clinging to consciousness. Two people were loudly arguing, but it sounded like it was miles away.

“…You…doing?!”

“Are you…fangs! –ampire……heavy duty…fine!”

“Fine?! She’s…..out…and she’s fucking smoking Laf! Lucky…still alive.”

“Well, technically…still dangerous…”

“Alright…Perry…dorm.”

And that was the last thing she heard before everything turned black.

Given that fact, Carmilla probably shouldn’t have been surprised when she woke up and found herself in Laura’s dorm room. She probably also shouldn’t have been surprised to find herself tied to a chair and decked out in what could only be described as silver and garlic necklaces. The garlic was hilarious, but pointless. The silver was more of a problem.

The vampire looked up to find that the chair was surrounded by crucifixes made of spoons, spatulas and anything else that could be taped together to make a passable cross. The man from the alley was unconscious and chained to a radiator in the corner.

Sat around the room, with expressions ranging from apprehensive to terrified, were the two gingers and Laura.

Carmilla coughed once to clear her dry throat and groaned. “Great, so I’m in Hell.” She looked up and flashed her fangs at Laura in a confrontational sneer. The cat was out of the bag anyway. “You’ve got a shit sense of gratitude, Cupcake.”

“ _Gratitude?!_ ” Laura yelled, seeming very offended by the notion. She stood up and stalked over to her desk, where she picked up a stack of pictures. “Excuse me if I’m not very flattered about being picked as the next dinner for some evil, flirty, undead…” Unable to find the right word, she flailed with inarticulate rage.

Carmilla couldn’t help but chuckle at her frustration. “The word you’re looking for is bitch, Cupcake.” She paused and tried to shrug in her bonds. “Well, that or vampire. Also, presumptuous much? What makes you think I’d have you for lunch?...Wait, what do you mean you’re next?” By her knowledge she hadn’t drained anyone lately. Sure, she was hungry, but not blackout and wake up with a drained corpse at your feet hungry.

With a triumphant expression, Laura tossed the pictures into the dark-haired girl’s lap. “Laf found something very interesting. Didn’t see the camera, huh?”

Carmilla bit back a swear as she looked at the pictures. They were still images of what appeared to be a camera feed near the door to Laura’s dorm. She had made sure to avoid any in the area, but clearly this little bastard had gone unnoticed. Most of the grainy images were of her lingering around the dorm’s ground entrance.

Two, however, were a bit more incriminating. The first was of herself mid-transformation, while the second was of her panther form leaping at something. She cringed a bit. _‘Okay, so pouncing on the mages the moment they set foot in the door was funny but not very smart. Great job, Carmilla._ _’_ She looked up and shrugged again. “You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you I had a good reason.”

“Not really, no.” Laura said, still seeming obnoxiously pleased with herself. “So, what’s the deal with him?” She pointed at the passed out man in the corner. “And what did you do with the other girls?”

Maybe the repeated electrocutions had made her a bit slow, but Carmilla blinked in confusion at Laura a few times before that second part really sank in. She turned to find Lafontaine glaring at her with the same kind of certainty as Laura, while Perry was giving Carmilla a helpless look over her charge’s shoulder.

Annoyed and quickly moving on to flat out pissed, Carmilla let out a heavy sigh. “You’re all idiots.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was that then, Creampuffs?
> 
> Just as our two idiots are actually starting to act like adults, I throw this at them. I'm not much of a benevolent author. Still, gotta give them a few hoops to jump through, right? At least I haven't lit the hoops on fire...yet.
> 
> Meh, I'll give them a break first. Maybe.
> 
> SirPrize's Shower Thoughts (#6)
> 
> I did tell you guys you'd occasionally get glimpses of the creative process, so let's dive down that rabbit hole.
> 
> This chapter's first draft was very, very different. It was also never finished, as I changed my mind halfway through, but that's another matter. The difference basically came down to two key aspects, namely Catmilla and the general plot's pacing.
> 
> Now, I personally think the pacing of this is probably a bit faster than it ought to be. That's in part due to the fact that, originally, this fic was going to be a fair bit shorter than it probably will be by the end. 5 chapters was about what I figured would do. Of course, then I had 60 more ideas and well...here we are at chapter 5 and we're certainly not done. I figured I could either throw out an anchor and try to quickly slow the pace down, or keep it consistent for the most part.
> 
> I think you can imagine which option I went with, though I did try to slow things down a bit where I could.
> 
> That brings me to Catmilla. Focussing on her and Laura living together for a bit longer probably would've worked great as a way to ease the tension for a few more chapters before building things up again. The issue being...that's kind of a one-joke plot point. Even if you try to get some variation in their interaction in there, it kinda comes down to the same core joke.
> 
> I'm not above hitting the same joke twice, but stretching Laura and Catmilla's time out too much would just make it get old. At the very least, I'd get bored of writing it. In the end, I couldn't really decide on a good way to keep that going without draining the fun out of it or stalling the plot entirely. Besides, I've made Carmilla horny enough. If she had to watch Laura get changed much more, she'd either pounce and fuck her on every available flat surface or burst a bloodvessel or something.
> 
> I think I know which you guys would prefer, though. Get your minds out of the gutter, Creampuffs.
> 
> So yeah, less Catmilla in the end, but hopefully a story that'll be better for it.


	6. Quite a Mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so sorry to keep you waiting, Creampuffs!
> 
> As always, thank you to the lovely Creampuffs leaving kudos and comments and of course a shout-out to my lovely beta reader, smartassducky!
> 
> This chapter...did not want to be written for a while there. On the bright side that bit of writer's block did spawn The Danger of Yoga Pants. That being said, this still took much longer than intended. Of course, life itself also got in the way for a bit there.
> 
> But, hey, it's here now!
> 
> I hope you enjoy, Creampuffs!

“We’re the idiots?” Laura asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re the ancient, immortal creature who got caught by a few puny mortals.” She smiled smugly at the vampire. “Come on, out with the evil plan.”

Carmilla rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, let me tell you all about the bunker where I left James Bond tied to a time bomb.” She drawled, sarcasm dripping from every word. “Cupcake, you have no idea what you’re doing. I don’t want to hurt you.”

The vampire’s expression made Laura believe that Carmilla would, in fact, have no real issue with hurting her. That glare could cut through stone. Putting on her best brave face, she answered with a glare of her own. “ _Really?_ ”

“The evidence suggests otherwise.” Lafontaine said, pointing at the pictures on Carmilla’s lap. “At the very least you’ve been stalking her.” They nodded to the unconscious man chained to the radiator. “And this guy apparently shot you while you were going after Laura.”

“…Are you serious right now?” The dark-haired vampire’s voice slid almost seamlessly from baffled disbelief to furious anger. Laura tensed a little when she saw Carmilla pull at her bindings, but whether it was the silver or the garlic, they thankfully held fast.

“Laf’s right.” She agreed. “We do have pictures of you hanging around here. I bet we could find others if we tried. Clearly you were doing some sort of vampiric…dark…evil…vampire spell…or something. That’s what vampire always do!”

“Laura!” To everyone’s surprise, Lafontaine’s head snapped around to their friend and fixed her with an admonishing look. “I get that you’re tense, but that was really speciesist.” They gestured to the bound, confused vampire. “I’m not saying that she wasn’t stalking you, but you can’t just pretend that all vampires are evil.”

The journalism major gaped at her friend for a moment. “I…What? I’m not speciesist! Hang on, what am I saying? That’s not a thing, Laf!” This so wasn’t what they were supposed to be focussing on right now.

“It really isn’t.” Carmilla agreed. “However, I am bothered by the slaughtering of syntax that just occurred. Vampiric, dark, evil vampire spell or something? And you want to be a journalist?”

 “Shut up!” She snapped, snatching the pictures from Carmilla’s lap, blushing. They were going to get back to the point if she had to drag everyone there kicking and screaming.

“People have died, Carmilla, and you’re clearly doing something here.” She held up the picture of Carmilla mid-transformation. “That certainly looks like a creature that could tear off a hand. Even if you didn’t kill SJ, there could be more like you. What am I supposed to think when you suddenly start following me and showing up at the café?”

She honestly wasn’t sure why Carmilla was still trying to talk her way out of this. They had her dead to rights…mostly. All she was doing at this point was dragging things out. It was doing nothing for Laura’s temper.

The short journalism major wasn’t even really sure who she was madder at: Carmilla for basically lying to her face when Laura had been trying to be a nice person and connect to her, or herself for getting her hopes up.

Any progress she thought she’d made was nothing but a trick. A huge lie to ensure she let her guard down around the dark-haired girl with the snarky attitude and leather pants. The conversations, the banter, the flirty comments, all of it. Not that she cared about the flirting. Honest. Carmilla was rude and snarky and the fact that she was unfairly gorgeous didn’t change that.

Laura had just liked the idea that a girl like that would pay her attention too much to see the obvious. Well, she didn’t particularly like getting played. The vampire would find that out soon enough.

“Based on current events, I don’t think any of you do much thinking in the first place.” Carmilla snarled, pulling at her bonds again. “Just listen, you lackwits. I’m not the one you have to worry about.” She jerked her head at the unconscious man. “He is.”

“Oh, this should be good.” Lafontaine chuckled dryly as she looked from Carmilla to their other captive. "The guy you were throwing around like a rag doll is the real threat, is he?”

Perry stopped obsessively cleaning Laura’s dorm room just long enough to put a hand on her charge’s arm. “Sweetie, I’m not sure what she means, but this man did have a gun.” She looked at the vampire and shrugged hesitantly. “Maybe we should hear her out?”

The ginger scientist’s expression softened slightly. “Perr, what’s stopping her from feeding us bullshit while he’s out? We can’t trust a thing she says.”

“I…Well…” Perry looked conflicted as she tried to think of a reason to trust Carmilla. It seemed strange to Laura that Perry, who had waved off any sign of the supernatural in the investigation so far, would be the one pushing them to listen to the vampire they now had chained up in Laura’s dorm room.

Before she could question it, though, Carmilla spoke up again.

“Hey, brain trust.” She began. “Why would I bother with a gun? And why would he?” Seeing that she once again had their attention, though not their understanding, she elaborated. “You said it yourself, Ginger #2. I could throw you all around like rag dolls. If I wanted to murder someone for, let’s say _tasing_ me, I could do it with my bare hands easily enough.”

Laura winced in sympathy as she watched the blood drain from Lafontaine’s face at the threat. “Ehm, yeah…” She cleared her throat. “Murderous inclinations aside, I think she has a point there.” She turned back to the vampire before she could get too smug. “But it doesn’t prove anything.”

“Oh come the fu-”

“Hey, he’s waking up.” Lafontaine pointed at the man chained to the radiator. As they had said, he was stirring and groaning as if he was about to wake up.

“Ah, good. We can get some answers then.” Laura shot Carmilla a triumphant smirk before she knelt down in front of the blonde man. “Sir?” She asked, gently shaking him as he frowned and his eyelids twitched. “Are you alright?”

 “Cupcake, _don’t_.” Carmilla warned. “You can’t let him speak.”

Laura shot the vampire a confused glance. She certainly sounded sincere. Almost frantic, really. However, the journalist-to-be had to wonder why Carmilla would want the man to stay silent so badly. In all likelihood, he had something to say she didn’t want them to hear.

 _‘God knows how old she is. She’s probably had all sorts of practice with seeming sincere.’_ She thought bitterly.

“He’s a mage, dammit!”

“Laf…” She sighed, nodding at the duct tape on the desk. The ginger scientist grinned a little too eagerly as they snatched it up and walked over to Carmilla.

When the bound vampire saw them approach with it, she immediately began to thrash in her bonds. “Ginger #2, I swear, if you come near me with that I’ll bite your hand off. Don’t you fucking-MMPHJH!”

Perry meanwhile leaned over and gently urged Laura back a bit from the stirring man with a concerned look. “Laura, maybe we should give him some breathing space and-”

At that moment the man’s eyes snapped open and he let out a long, pained groan. “Okay, I’ve had better days.” He muttered through clenched teeth. Confused, green eyes darted around the room for a moment and lingered first on Laura.

Het let out a bitter laugh, almost immediately flinching in pain. “God, I’ve had better days. That’s quite the familiar you have there. No wonder we couldn’t get close.”

“A what?” Laura blinked at him. _‘What the hell is a familiar?’_

“Your transforming demon?” The blond man eyed her oddly. He shifted a little, trying to find a more comfortable position for his busted ribs. “What did you offer her anyway? Summoning something like that has a price.”

“Riiiight.” Laura drawled slowly, trying to figure out what was going on. The fact that Carmilla was loudly trying to shout something through the tape over her mouth didn’t make that any easier.

Unfortunately, her confusion gave the man time to look around and when he found the tied and gagged Carmilla, he frowned. “Hang on…”

“Yes!” They all flinched when Lafontaine suddenly shot up and shouted loudly. “Yes! It, eh, did take a lot. That is just how powerful La-Mistress, is!” They looked at Laura with an expression of utter devotion that only barely hid the sudden panic in their eyes. “A great deal of power went into the summoning and she has, eh, she has to fight it for control daily without giving it more to…y’know…complete the ceremony.”

The man seemed extremely confused for a moment. “…We call it a contract, but different strokes, I suppose.” He then turned back to Laura with an appraising look. “We’ve wondered about your power. It must be greater than anticipated.”

Laura’s mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to comprehend the last 30 seconds of her life. When Laf motioned for her to say something, say anything, she cleared her throat. “Eh, yes, that’s me. Laura Hollis master…summoning person. Summoner. Summoneress?” Her brow wrinkled as she pondered the word before she snapped out of it again and tried to appear intimidating. “So are you saying that you’ve been after me?”

Frankly, she’d always thought she wouldn’t have people who had it out for her like that until at least a year into her career.

“You’re meddling in things that you ought to leave alone.” He answered, still looking at the honey-blonde girl as if trying to peer into her soul. “Master doesn’t appreciate it.”

“I don’t give a hoot what your ‘master’ appreciates.” She fired back, crossing her arms. “There are girls missing and you know something.” She glanced pointedly from the man to Carmilla, who was doing her best to glare everyone in the room to death. “Do I need to sic my familiar on you again?”

She still wasn’t entirely sure what a familiar was even supposed to be, aside from something you summoned somehow, but their captive seemed worried enough about her. To her surprise though, the man chuckled.

“You could, but you’re a bit late.” He grinned unpleasantly and looked at where his hands were tied to the radiator.

Laura followed his gaze and found a set of small, glowing symbols floating just beyond the tips of his fingers. “Aw, crap baskets.”

“Vi Tenebrarum!”

Immediately, chaos erupted in the room. A shockwave of invisible force rippled out from their captive and threw them all off their feet. It didn’t stop there, though. As if it was a rubber ball, the force seemed to rebound off of the walls.

Books and papers were scattered, the sheets that Perry had so carefully tucked in were ripped from Laura’s bed and the entire bookshelf went flying through the window in a shower of glass. Laura, Lafontaine and Perry weren’t safe either.

Lafontaine collided with Perry in mid-air somehow and the two went down in a heap, Perry groaning as her friend landed on her stomach. Laura meanwhile had the air driven from her lungs when the force slammed directly into her and chucked her at the wall.

Thankfully it rebounded and caught her in the back as well, throwing her back the other way before she could collide with the unforgiving plaster. The blonde landed awkwardly half on and half off of her bed, crying out in pain when her knees slammed hard against the wooden side of the bed.

When it finally settled, her room looked like a disaster area. There were several large dents in the walls where the force had rebounded, splinters from her bookshelf littered the floor and papers were still drifting down like oversized snowflakes.

Most distressingly though, was the blue mug lying next to her bed. “ _Noooo!”_ Laura whined, cradling the mug in one hand and the broken handle in the other. “Okay, you clearly don’t know what you’re messing with.” There were probably more important things going on, but this mug was special, dammit.

“Probably not.”

Laura looked over and her blood turned to ice in her veins when she found that her radiator had been crumpled like a soda can and ripped free on one side. This had allowed their captive to slip free, though his hands were still bound, and he was slowly standing up.

“I haven’t really been clear on most things in my life for about five years now. Some days I just wake up and wonder, John, what do you really know?” He winced with every movement that stressed his sore ribs, but soon stood at his full height. “I’m amazed how well this went, though. Guess all that power doesn’t help when you’re caught by surprise.”

He began to walk over to Laura and the journalism major quickly tried to get up, but let out another cry of pain when she tried to rest weight on her left leg. Tears stung at her eyes and she felt like the air had been stolen from her lungs all over again as she slid down the side of the bed.

The man, John, stood over her with a reluctant sort of pity. “I’m sorry. I am.” His fingers drew more symbols in the air as he spoke and Laura felt an odd, almost primal sense of terror settle over her as cold mist began to gather around her hands. “What you’re doing is…admirable, really. I hope my girls grow up like you, but I’m doing this to make sure they grow up in a better world.”

When the last symbol joined the others, they began to glow and the cold mist coalesced in the small space between his hands into a short, wide spear made entirely of ice. “Come on. I honestly don’t know if mages settle things like this, but I’ll at least let you fight back.”

“Very noble.” Lafontaine drawled, sounding a little stuffy.

Laura looked around their ex-captive to find Lafontaine, still mostly draped over Perry, pointing their modified taser at John. One of their eyes was closed, blood from a shallow cut on their brow running over it freely, and their free hand was pressed to their bleeding nose.

The blood and their grim expression actually made them seem pretty scary for a moment. “Do you extend that courtesy to all the helpless women you murder?”

John obviously wasn’t very impressed, smirking at them over his shoulder. “Not so confident in your mistress anymore, girl?”

“Call me girl again, see what happens.” Lafontaine shot back.

The mage rolled his eyes and continued. “With her magic, she’s not nearly as defenceless as you’re…” He trailed off when he noticed the two exchanged a panicked look and his eyes narrowed. “You don’t have magic, do you?” He asked Laura accusingly.

She laughed nervously as he looked around for something to save herself with. “I have an acceptance letter from Hogwarts. Does that count?” If she was going to die anyway, she would at least have some interesting last words to brag about. If ghosts bragged at all, of course.

“Of course you were bullshitting me.” John growled. “Well, that just means I’ll feel bad afterwards. What do you think is holding this thing back?” He nodded at the ice spear. “Either way, it’s going into your friend’s chest.” He scoffed. “Not that it would help much anyway.”

“Oh, I dunno.” The ginger argued with a vindictive smirk. “Worked well enough on her. Imagine what it’ll do to you.”

Laura looked in the direction Lafontaine jerked their head just in time to see Carmilla awkwardly lunge forward. Like everyone else, the vampire had been tossed around by the spell and one particularly rough landing had shattered one of the chair’s armrests.

Though her legs were still tied to the chair, she now had one arm free and a weapon in the form of a piece of shattered plastic. She put the latter to good use by stabbing it through his ankle.

The blonde man howled in agony and made the mistake of turning to face his attacker just as Carmilla yanked on the plastic, upsetting his balance and sending him sprawling flat on his back. In the fall, his concentration broke and the ice spear flew forwards and embedded itself worryingly deep into the ceiling.

“Seize him!” Trying very hard not to think about the effect that thing would have had on her body, Laura quickly jumped on one arm while Laf and Perry dove for the other. Thankfully, his busted ribs made John easy to subdue as he could only exude so much force without groaning in pain.

 _‘The fall probably helped too.’_ She thought, watching his face twist in agony with every breath. She couldn’t really bring herself to feel bad, considering the circumstances.

John tried break free one last time, before he slumped to the floor and chuckled softly. “Well, crap.” With a deep breath, followed by a gasp of pain, he turned to Laura and smiled. For a moment all the menace around him seemed to fade as he looked at her. “I hope my girls have friends like yours too.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “Non propter defectum locus!”

The odd, primal terror returned as a weird charge seemed to spread through the air around them while black lines began to spread over John’s body.

“Eh, what’s happening?” Lafontaine asked, watching the lines spread with apprehension written all over their face. “More importantly, does it have a blast radius?”

“What?!” Laura snapped, eyes wide. “Come on, he’s not exploding! Right?!” She looked from Laf to Perry, both of whom looked profoundly unsure. “I mean he can’t - oh shit.” Suddenly the lines began to glow blinding white and both gingers quickly scrambled back.

Before Laura could really react, something grabbed her ankle and yanked her away. Suddenly there was a weight over her and then there was a dull thwomp followed by a disgusting splattering noise and a metallic smell.

Laura laid stock still for a moment, fully anticipating more magical chaos, and let out a relieved sigh when none came. As if it was a signal, the weight above her stirred and suddenly she was face to face with Carmilla.

Despite everything, Laura blushed. Sure, Carmilla was at the very least a complete liar, but she was also very, very pretty and very close. In fact, she could feel the dark-haired girl’s breath on her lips and it was filling her head with all sorts of fantasies that this was neither the time nor place for. _‘Still, she saved me, right? She can’t be totally evil.’_

Shaking off that thought and the inexplicable sense of hope it brought, Laura decided to focus on more pressing matters. “Are you okay?”

A single, neatly plucked brow arched and then Carmilla’s expression settled into a particularly condescending glare.

Puzzled at the sudden hostility, Laura eyed her questioningly until she noticed the tape over the vampire’s mouth. “OH! Oh, crap, sorry. Here, let me just…” She pushed the dark-haired girl back a bit. As she pulled the tape off slowly, she noticed something red in Carmilla’s dark strands.  “So are you okay?”

“Seize him, Cupcake? Really?” She asked, not bothering to answer the question.

The honey-blonde girl huffed and blushed. “It was the heat of the moment! It got the basic idea across, didn’t it?” She glared at the much, much older girl when Carmilla rolled her eyes. “I didn’t hear you come up with a bet-aaaaaagh!”

The realisation what the red stuff in Carmilla’s hair was came when a red piece of what was very clearly bloody flesh dropped from the dark strands into Laura’s cleavage. In her panic to get the sticky, oddly warm stuff off of her skin, she dumped Carmilla to the side and quickly scrambled back.

This course of action only saw her putting her hand in what could only be described as a patch of bloody slurry. She screamed again and scrambled back, huddling up against the vampire. The vampire who had landed on her side directly in a puddle of blood, because she couldn’t catch herself in time.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry!” She squeaked, rolling the bound and seriously irate vampire out of the puddle.

“Yeah, I got that, Cupcake.” The vampire grumbled, her right side now completely plastered with something Laura really didn’t want to think about.

She tried to look away, but that really didn’t help as it only drew her attention to the rest of her room. John was gone. Except for the blood and small pieces of gore coating the floor, walls and just about everything else.

Lafontaine had escaped largely unscathed, aside from a stained arm. Perry on the other hand, had somehow managed to get in front of Laf, apparently and was covered from head to toe. The ginger girl’s eyes were wide and haunted, staring into the distance even as Laf slowly lowered her to sit in a relatively clean spot.

“You alright, Frosh?” Laf asked, taking their attention away from the near catatonic Perry for a moment.

“I…” Laura cleared her throat and swallowed. Was she okay? A man had just died. In her dorm room. Actually, died wasn’t even the right way to put it. A man had tried to kill her in her dorm room and then…somehow magically blown himself up when that plan failed.

“I…don’t know.” She muttered. She wasn’t scared, she wasn’t angry, she wasn’t…anything, really. And she saw that same numbness reflected in the ginger scientist’s expression. “Are you?”

“I…I think we’re all a bit in shock. My brain’s giving me all these ways to deal with that, but eh…” They ran a hand through their hair, but quickly stopped when they realized it was only smearing the gore into it. “I can’t really seem to put them into action.”

They were both silent for a long time. Every now and then Lafontaine would softly say something to Perry in an effort to get her to speak, before they resumed staring at the wall. Laura wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but her mouth was dry when she spoke again.

“A mage tried to kill me.” She muttered as if she was talking about the weather. “Magic exists and the people using it are evil and want me dead. God, he probably would’ve killed you too.”

“Also, they think you’re a mage for some reason.” Laf replied in that same overly casual tone. “And some guy just magically blew himself up and dyed your bedroom with his insides.”

“Yup.” Laura nodded. “Good news, I feel something again.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna be sick.”

She felt her stomach turn as she took in her walls with renewed horror. That was a person. Or it had been, once. Granted, one who had tried to kill her, but still a person. _‘How am I supposed to sleep here now?’_ She didn’t voice the question, as it felt incredibly petty in this moment, but she could feel it hanging over her.

She already knew she would never wear these jeans again and they’d only been splashed a bit. How was she supposed to sleep in a room where she’d witnessed someone commit suicide. _‘God, this place is probably so haunted now.´_

An annoyed sigh cut through the silence. “Alright, so I guess a thank you isn’t happening, then.” Carmilla drawled, tapping the fingers of her free hand against her thigh. “Or a ‘Sorry Carmilla, you were right, we really are imbeciles’ for that matter.” She affected a high, squeaky voice that was probably supposed to be a mimicry of Laura.

That brought something back at least. Irritation. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Laura snapped frowning at Carmilla. “I’m sorry that we’re not taking the attempted murder and completely successful suicide very well.” She told the vampire angrily.

“Cupcake, I get that.” Carmilla had the gall to roll her eyes.

“Do you?” Laura hissed.

“Yes.” For just a moment the vampire’s eyes locked on her own and they softened, something akin to concern shining in them. A second later, the emotion was gone and the hard look was back. “But you don’t have time to freak out right now.”

“She’s right.” Lafontaine agreed, climbing to their feet. “We need to clean your room, because I don’t think anyone will believe you spilled pasta sauce or something.” They muttered, clearly eager to have something to do rather than ponder what had just occurred. “And we need to plan. What do we know?”

Following their lead, Laura stood up. “Magic is real, mages think I can use it and they want me dead. Also, they think Carmilla is here because she’s a familiar or something.” She paused when that statement fully registered in her own brain and turned around, eyeing the vampire curiously. “Wait, why _are_ you here? Why did you save me?”

The vampire scoffed. “Cupcake, don’t expect me to start talking about how I’m looking for my redemption for centuries of vampiric debauchery.” She threw Laura a cocky smirk. “In fact, I kind of like the debauchery. Trust me when I say that I really, really don’t want to be here.”

“But you are.” Lafontaine muttered, looking at the vampire as if she was a particularly interesting lab specimen. “And he said multiple people tried to do something to Laura.”

As the pieces came together, the tiny journalism major felt her eyebrows rise up to her hairline. “Have you been dealing with them all this time?”

The vampire didn’t answer, but her silence spoke volumes.

“You have.” She muttered, surprised. “All this time, you’ve been protecting me.” More emotions began to break through the numbness. Surprise. Confusion. Gratitude. Frustration. Hope. She quickly stomped that last one down again. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I tried.” Carmilla deadpanned. “You tied me to a chair and gagged me.” She turned to Lafontaine and added, with venom in her voice “After tasing me.”

“Ah.” Laura sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. “In our defence, we really thought you were trying to kill me.” She muttered, unable to bring herself to face the seriously unamused vampire. “But I don’t get why.”

The vampire heaved a heavy sigh. “Look, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“In the past few hours we realised that vampires are real, so is magic and both are very capable of killing us.” Lafontaine laughed, a spark of interest returning to their eyes. “Try us.”

Carmilla studied them both for a moment and shrugged. “Okay, you asked. Look, I’ve been assigned to keep the Poptart here safe. I literally cannot ignore it if she’s in danger.” She glared at the honey-blonde girl. “You’re in danger _a lot._ ”

Laura felt her cheeks colour with anger and embarrassment. It wasn’t her fault that a bunch of mages suddenly decided that murder was an acceptable form of conflict resolution. Or that making young women vanish was good for…whatever they were trying to do.

“What’s keeping you here, then?” The moment she asked, something strange happened.

Carmilla opened her mouth to respond, but then Laura felt as if she had blinked very slowly or something. Suddenly Carmilla’s mouth was shut again and she seemed perturbed, glaring not at Laura or Lafontaine, but something behind them.

The tiny journalism major glanced at her friend, who was still looking at the vampire expectantly, and then followed the dark-haired girl’s gaze. She seemed to be looking at Perry, who was still wasn’t speaking but at least looking at something other than the wall now. In fact, she seemed to be looking right back at Carmilla.

 _‘Progress?’_ Laura thought. Still, she had more pressing things to do. “Well?”

Dark eyes darted back to her and Carmilla scoffed. “As it turns out, I’m not _allowed_ to tell you.” She leaned back as much as her bonds would let her. “You’ll just have to believe me when I say that it’s a force that has a vested interest in keeping you alive.”

“If you’re talking about God or something I’m gonna feel really bad about the whole atheism thing.” Lafontaine muttered, looking up with a weird look on their face. “Does this mean I have to start going to church?” They seemed conflicted. “I’ve told so many zombie-Jesus jokes.”

Carmilla actually let out a laugh. “Don’t worry, Ginger #2, that’s not it.” She glanced at Laura. “Goody-two-shoes or not, I don’t think the Cupcake is up for sainthood.”

“That’s just it. I’m nothing special.” Laura agreed, confused. “I don’t think I was born under a shooting star or during a terrible storm or something and I’m pretty sure no old ladies came by to predict some sort of great calamity I’m supposed to prevent.” She ranted, panic slowly building.

If Carmilla was to be believed, that was quite a bit to take in. Honestly, who woke up believing that some sort of greater power would actively try to keep them safe? She wanted to achieve things, sure, and when she was much younger she’d even wanted to be a hero. That was nothing special, though. Everyone had dreams like that.

The idea that she had somehow been deemed important enough for some sort of cosmic attention brought with it a weight and pressure that she wasn’t entirely sure wanted to deal with. Hell, she wasn’t particularly sure she could.

Deciding to put that on the list of things she really didn’t want to think about, Laura sighed and reached for Carmilla’s wrist. “Okay. We have other things to deal with first.” She said softly. “But if you immediately murder me after this I’ll…feel really stupid.” She quickly untied Carmilla’s wrist from the remaining arm rest and stepped back.

Thankfully, the vampire didn’t immediately murder her, though she did eye Lafontaine with less-than-friendly intent when the scientist gripped their Taser tightly.

Instead Carmilla tore off the silver jewellery and threw it into the corner with a sneer. She then stood up and readjusted her clothes, but not before Laura caught sight of angry red marks. They looked like the world’s worst rash or, probably more aptly, a brand.

Guilt settled on her shoulders like a lead weight. They hadn’t set out to hurt anyone…aside from the tasing and that was mostly Lafontaine’s idea anyway. That was supposed to be the back-up plan if Laura thought she was being followed after her ginger friend called about the pictures of Carmilla hanging around the dorm last night.

Those marks looked angry. They had to hurt. Even from here she could see some had formed something almost like blisters at the centre. They stood out starkly against Carmilla’s pale skin, red blotches on white canvas. Like blood. Like the blood splattered on her walls. The blood that had been inside someone who had tried to kill them.

 _‘Oh god, I’m gonna be sick.’_ She wasn’t even sure if it was the panic or the guilt that was making her feel ill at this point. Guilt was in the lead at the moment, though.

The silver was just supposed to keep her weak, not hurt her. “I’m- we’re really sorry.” She said contritely. When Carmilla raised an eyebrow, she gestured at a red mark poking out over the hem of her shirt. “We didn’t know it would do that. We never meant to hurt you.”

Carmilla scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Oh yes,” she drawled “nothing says ‘we have your best interests at heart’ like a friendly tasing and kidnapping.” She shot them a curious look. “What _would_ you have done if I just refused to talk?”

“Nothing.” Laura said.

“Probably try to starve you out.” Lafontaine said at the exact same time.

“Laf!” Laura hissed at her ginger friend. She was trying to dial down the crazy, dammit!

“I said probably.” Lafontaine said defensively. “Look, I think we’re better off trying to figure out what is going on with the people trying to keep you alive…as well as the people trying to kill you. He kept saying something about a familiar?”

“No!”

They all nearly jumped out of their skin when Perry suddenly shot up, glaring at them angrily. “No more! Do you not see that what you’re doing is dangerous?!” She asked, gesturing wildly at the gore covered walls and the twisted remains of Laura’s radiator. “There is blood everywhere! I am covered in it! A man died! No more talk about vampires and mages and familiars and mystical powers protecting Laura!”

Her eyes were wide and panicked as she stomped over to the door. “None of you talk to me until it’s something _normal_ like homework or issues with other students on this floor.” She seethed, shooting them one last look from the doorway. ”Just…BE NORMAL!”

“Perr…” Lafontaine tried, before they were cut off when Perry slammed the door shut. The hand that had been reaching for their fellow ginger flopped dejectedly down to their side.

A cringeworthy silence fell over the room as they all tried to process Perry’s sudden anger. Laura turned slowly to the downtrodden looking Lafontaine. “Well…at least-”

Suddenly the door flew open again and Perry poked her blood-soaked head in. “And someone help poor Carmilla get clean!” She yelled, before she slammed the door shut again.

Laura winced at the loud bang. _‘Apparently Perry’s a lot stronger than I gave her credit for.’_ She thought. She found Laf still looking extremely dejected and gently nudged them in the shoulder. “At least she’s talking?” Her tone was light, hoping for humour, but the ginger scientist just gave her a look like she had kicked an entire kennel’s worth of puppies.

With a heavy sigh, Laura nudged them towards the door. “Go. See if you can calm her down, okay?”

The ginger scientist glanced from Laura to the door. “Are you sure?” They asked. “I could help you with your room.” They were already looking at the door worriedly again before they’d even finished talking.

Laura laughed softly. It wasn’t like she didn’t know that Lafontaine was impressively whipped, but seeing it was always amusing. Besides, the fact that they’d still offered despite their obvious desire to immediately chase after Perry was very sweet. “It’s alright. I can handle it.” She nudged Laf towards the door again.

The redhead shot Carmilla an apprehensive look and opened her mouth to speak, but then shook her head. “Okay, but don’t open your door for anyone, okay?” They patted Laura on the shoulder and walked towards the door. “I can probably catch Perry before she scrubs her skin off.”

The words sent another spike of guilt through Laura. “Hey, Laf?” She called after them, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to look up from her feet when they turned with one hand on the doorknob. “Tell Perry I’m really sorry, alright? I never meant to drag you guys into something like this.”

“Laura.” Lafontaine sighed. “This isn’t your fault, okay? None of this is.” They ran a hand through their hair and glowered at the blood-covered walls. “I’m not mad. A little worried, maybe, because my life just got flipped turned upside down.” Their terrible Will Smith impression drew a chuckle from Laura and a disgusted grunt from Carmilla. “And Perry is just...freaking out a bit. She’ll be fine once I bring her some camomile tea or something.”

When Laura looked up again, the redhead was smiling at them kindly. “Just you watch, Perry will be kicking me awake at 7 just so we can help you clean anything you didn’t get to yet.”

Laura answered the smile with her own. “Thank you, Laf.”

The door closed with a click that felt much louder than it was. Laura turned to face the unamused vampire behind her and smiled sheepishly. “Well…I dunno if that’s like…a Happy Meal to you, but I imagine you want to get it off.” She gestured at the blood splattered across Carmilla’s side.

The girl’s normally gorgeous black hair was plastered uncomfortably to her neck by the quickly drying blood and her clothes seemed sticky and disgusting as well. Laura forced down a wave of nausea and pointed at the bathroom. “Why don’t you shower first? I’ll just…clean up.”

“Oh, how magnanimous of you, Cupcake.” Carmilla sneered as she turned and stomped towards the bathroom. “It almost makes me forget I was pissed about being tied to a chair mere minutes ago.” There was a brief pause, before she continued with an air of feigned surprise. “Oh, nope, still pissed. What a shock.” With that she slammed the door shut behind her and the only bookshelf not knocked loose already came crashing down.

Laura buried her face in her hands as someone pounded on the connecting wall and demanded “some goddamn peace and quiet for fuck’s sake.” She had not been ready for today.

The most immediate problem, while Carmilla showered, was the state of Laura’s room. It was a cluttered mess, with most of her possessions scattered about or broken. God, who even knew how much of her homework was just utterly ruined now? Not to mention the walls.

 _‘Best to start there, I suppose.’_ The tiny journalism major thought as she eyed the stained walls.

It was hard to say if it was the gross factor of cleaning blood and gore off of her walls, the guilt of knowing that it had once been a person or a combination of both that made her stomach turn every time she dunked her sponge into her bucket of water, which was quickly turning red.

God, she had never wanted to be around so much blood that she could actually smell it. Laura could’ve lived the rest of her life just fine without ever knowing that scent. _‘He had daughters.’_ She thought, trying very hard to ignore the thin, red trails left on her hand and wrist by stray drops. He was a father and presumably also a husband and now he was just…gone. Because of Laura.

She couldn’t even wrap her head around what could drive a person to kill someone her age when they had children of their own. It was not like she was holding a gun to their heads or something.  And now they would never see their father again, because he’d gone after Laura. And going after Laura was what killed him, in the end.

She dunked the sponge again and her fingers brushed against something floating in the water that was suspiciously squishy. A powerful wave of nausea washed over her and the honey-blonde girl stumbled over to her sink just in time to empty her stomach into it.

Wrong, wrong, wrong! Everything was wrong! There wasn’t supposed to be this much danger. Her friends weren’t supposed to face death threats just because they were helping Laura. Magic was supposed to be just a fun fantasy and not something actively threatening her life.

When she finally stopped throwing up, she remained hunched over the sink and gasping for air. The taste of bile was heavy and sour on her tongue and the disgusting smell made her eyes water. Still, it was almost preferable to the smell of the rest of the room. Just as the tiny journalism major thought she could feel her stomach settling, she saw his face as if he was standing right in front of her.

The man. John.

She then saw the lines appearing on his face again and resumed throwing up, retching and trembling. _‘It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real.’_ She wasn’t even sure if she was trying to convince herself that the mental images playing on loop in her head were fake or just the entire situation she found herself in. _‘It’s not real. You just have to make sure Laf and Perry are safe. It’s not real. Then you can hide. It’s not real. Just don’t die. Don’t die. Oh, God, he tried to kill me.’_

Laura only became aware that she’d gone from throwing up to sobbing when she felt a small, warm hand come to rest between her shoulder blades. She jumped and looked over her shoulder to find Carmilla standing behind her with an expression of annoyance and just a bare hint of concern. “Cupcake, calm down.”

The vampire was still wet from the shower, her black hair shimmering like silk and her pale skin was slightly flushed. There was a lot of it on display too, as Carmilla wore nothing but Laura’s largest and fluffiest towel.

She couldn’t focus on that though, because there was blood on her walls and someone had blown himself up in her dorm room and how was she supposed to move on from that and Carmilla was going all blurry so she was probably crying again. Great.

“I can’t stay here.” She managed to blurt out between body-wracking sobs. “Carmilla, _I can’t._ He died here and I can smell it and it’s all over my walls and I can’t sleep here-” Short of breath, she gasped for air and made to continue but Carmilla quickly held up a hand.

“Cupcake, I got it, okay?” She pushed Laura down on her bed, fished a bag from her closet and dumped it in her lap. “Here, do something productive with this little panic attack.” She threw some clothes at Laura’s head.

The honey-blonde girl eyed them strangely and looked at Carmilla inquisitively. “Carm, what-“

“We’re going to my place.” The dark-haired girl said, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked down at Laura. “If you give yourself an aneurysm, I’m probably gonna get blamed for it.” She reached into the closet and pulled out a Gryffindor jumper out, rolled her eyes at it, and chucked it at Laura as well. “Grab your crap and let’s go.”

Laura pulled the jumper off of her face and stared down at it, uncertain. She really, _really_ didn’t want to stay here. She couldn’t stay here. But going with Carmilla? Carmilla the really angry vampire?

 _‘Who saved your life.’_ A small voice at the back of Laura’s head piped up. _‘Probably several times.’_

She had lied about it, though. Not to mention that she was apparently unwilling to just tell Laura why she was doing it in the first place. It certainly didn’t seem to be voluntary. She looked at the vampire and was hit by an odd thought.

It was still basically Carmilla.

The tiny journalism major had never been under any delusion that the dark-haired girl was a particularly good person. In fact, Carmilla was a downright ass. And yet, before the size of this mess became apparent, they had become sort of friendly.

Sure, she was unfairly attractive and that was a big part of why she had always drawn Laura’s attention. However, the snark, dry humour and brief bursts of actual kindness were what had drawn her in far more than that gorgeous face.

Of course, there was the whole murder thing and that was a lot to swallow. Did Carmilla kill people before they met? God, had she killed people after they met? Had she killed people while protecting Laura?

A weird sort of dread and guilt settled in her stomach like lead as she thought about that. Who would actually want someone to kill for them? Even if it was to keep themselves safe. One of the most basic lessons that everyone learned as kids was that killing was just wrong. Maybe it was childish to cling to that, but…Laura wasn’t certain she was comfortable with how easy it seemed to Carmilla.

She snapped out of her thoughts when the vampire sighed and pointedly began tapping her foot.

Reservations aside, Carmilla had been keeping her safe up until now. Surely it wouldn’t be any more dangerous to go with her than to stay in her room, as that clearly wasn’t all that safe either. _‘Besides, it’s got to be better than staying here.’_

Numbly, Laura threw some stuff into her bag. She wasn’t even entirely certain what she was packing, or anything else for that matter, only that Carmilla’s dramatic sighs and checking of her blatantly watch-less wrist was quickly getting annoying.  After sending Lafontaine a quick text, she threw her bag over her shoulders and turned to her ex-captive. “So, is this where you turn into a giant bat and carry me off to some tomb?”

A strange look came over Carmilla’s face. “Not a big fan of those, Cupcake.” She muttered, before reaching out and placing a hand on Laura’s shoulder.

There was an odd poof and suddenly Laura felt as if something had tried to make her tumble in six directions at once. Up was down, left was right and then direction suddenly became meaningless when everything went dark and the only thing she was left with was the feeling of spinning in a void devoid of sound, light or scent.

She opened her mouth, but honestly couldn’t say if any sound was coming out.

Then, suddenly, all of her senses were returned to her at once and they were someplace else entirely. A wave of vertigo hit the tiny blonde like a ton of bricks and she had to lean on what turned out to be a kitchen counter. “Oh holy Hufflepuff, I think I’m gonna be sick again.”

Carmilla, apparently unbothered by whatever had just happened, chuckled at Laura’s misery and wandered over to the fridge. “Don’t vomit on my floor, Cupcake. “ She warned before she opened the door and glared at whatever she found.

Laura took a moment to look around.

The place seemed…weirdly normal. The kitchen clearly didn’t see much action, but then it probably didn’t need to. The honey-blonde girl could see part of the living room through the door and that too seemed fairly mundane, if a little dark.

No crosses on the wall. No clear hatches leading to coffin-filled basements. No candles casting shifting shadows on the wall. It probably shouldn’t have been surprising, but the idea that most of vampire-based fiction had lied to her was kind of disappointing. There was a lot of black and red, though.

When Carmilla turned and slammed the door to her fridge shut with an annoyed grunt, Laura turned back to ask if she could shower. The sticky, drying blood felt uncomfortable and itchy on her skin and she just wanted to wash any reminder of this night off.

Maybe, just maybe, she would be able to sleep. _‘Not that it seems very likely.’_

However, she found Carmilla fumbling with a box of tea while trying to light the stove under her kettle. It suddenly seemed so very human, that an entirely different question spilled from her lips before she could really think about it. “Have you killed people?”

“Yes.” Carmilla didn’t even look up.

“After we met?” Laura asked, feeling a bit desperate all of a sudden. For some reason it was suddenly very important that Carmilla…actually Laura wasn’t even sure what she wanted here. That Carmilla at least showed some emotion about ending someone’s life?

The vampire paused for a moment this time, but then looked up and locked eyes with the shorter girl. “I don’t know. Probably, Cupcake. Before you ask, yes, I intended to.”

“Why?” It was the only question that felt appropriate.

“Many reasons.” Carmilla sighed with a roll of her eyes. She put the tea down and turned to face Laura fully. “Recently, though, mostly while dealing with people hanging around your dorm. Some of those lackwits probably didn’t survive.”

“Oh.” Laura muttered, fidgeting in place. _‘Perhaps I shouldn’t ask questions I don’t want the answers to.’_

“I guess you think that’s wrong.” The vampire gave her an utterly condescending look. “Really, I can see the sanctimonious speech being written in your head, Cupcake.” She drawled.

Anger sparked in Laura’s chest. “They’re people, Carmilla! Whatever they wanted to do, they’re living people with families.”

“I’m aware, Cupcake. One of them recently tried to kill you. Have you stopped to consider that, in 300 years on this planet, I’ve learned a bit more about life and death than some naïve, nineteen-year old child?” She fired back, eyes narrowed and posture tense. “Trust me, sooner or later you learn that the loss of a few morons is about as noteworthy and impactful as the loss of a sock.”

The dread from earlier returned, seemingly magnified now as it settled in Laura’s stomach again. “You can’t mean that.” She muttered, aghast. Laura had never heard anyone say something quite that callous about human life, especially when the person saying it was basically immortal. “Just because you-” She quickly bit her tongue.

“Oh, this should be good.” Carmilla looked every inch the predator with her fangs bared and her eyes hard, almost daring Laura to continue through sheer force of will. “Is the Cupcake going to show off her little claws?”

The honey-blonde girl grit her teeth, determined to be the bigger person.

“No? How about a little speech on love and caring, then? Should I start playing the Care Bear theme? Or are you just going to glare at me because you don’t know what to do when an actual issue is dumped into your-”

 _‘Well, so much for that.’_ A wry voice at the back of Laura’s mind said before her anger boiled over. “Just because you’re such a callous _bitch_ who has spent so long being superior and apathetic about everything to the point that you’ve forgotten what it means to lose someone does not mean that everyone else has too!”

The moment the words left her mouth, she felt guilty about them. For just a moment, Carmilla’s anger fell away and the tiny journalism major saw something new on that pretty face.

Pain. Naked, deep and genuine pain. The kind she’d seen on her own face only years before.

Then it was suddenly gone again and the air of haughty anger took its place again. With her fingers gripping the counter top hard enough to make the stone creak ominously, a dangerous sneer spread over Carmilla’s face. “And with less than two decades on this planet, you’re such a fucking expert on loss, huh?” She hissed.

“That’s not fair.” She protested angrily. Laura had made a callous statement and that did not give Carmilla the right to just make assumptions on what she did or didn’t know about loss.

“Does it look like I fucking care?” Carmilla raised a trembling hand and pointed down the hall. “I’m not feeling terribly protective. You should probably go shower, Laura.” The hand dropped. “Or whatever gets you out of my sight.”

“ _Fine.”_ The tiny journalism major snapped.

“Good.”

“Great!”

“Fantastic!”

“Amazing! I’ll just go do that, then!” With one last heated look, Laura spun on her heel and stomped off in the direction Carmilla had pointed. Behind her, she heard the distinctive sound of shattering porcelain and she rolled her eyes. _‘Very mature, Carmilla.’_

The fact that Laura would’ve loved something to throw herself wasn’t really something she was about to admit.

Carmilla’s bathroom turned out to be both very swanky and an absolute mess at the same time. The counter was a mess of shampoos and beauty products as well as weird stains and the honey-blonde could see the hair in the shower drain from the doorway.

“Doesn’t she ever clean?” Laura muttered angrily as she tore her bloodstained clothes off. “Stupid, arrogant, obnoxious, superior…” Still grumbling, she stepped into the shower and sighed in blessed relief as hot water caressed stiff muscles.

The anger was good for something, at least, because she was so busy fuming that Laura barely noticed the sticky blood being washed off of her skin. Carmilla thought she knew so much about Laura. Who was she to randomly decide how the shorter girl felt about loss.

The tiny journalism major maybe hadn’t lost as many people as some, but it certainly made up for it through the impact it had on her life. Hearing the snarky vampire trivialize it had just set Laura off in the worst way.

Of course Laura had kind of done the same thing…but that wasn’t the point!

It wasn’t Laura’s fault that Carmilla just didn’t care about anything. Or pretended not to, at least. A part of herself set on derailing all of her arguments that helped Laura cling to her very comforting anger decided to remind her of the girl’s pained expression.

That…still didn’t feel great.

 _‘Can’t be the first time someone’s called her a callous bitch.’_ The honey-blonde girl thought as she aggressively shampooed her hair. Really, Carmilla probably got called far worse things a lot. So what had she said that… “Aw fudge.” Laura groaned in sudden realization. Yeah, she’d obviously rubbed Carmilla’s face in some kind of loss too, accidentally.

Well, not entirely accidentally. She wasn’t quite that good a person. However, Laura had just been mad. She hadn’t intended to really hurt Carmilla. And succeeded, apparently. In hurting the person who had been protecting her. _‘Still feel good about that, Hollis?’_

That wasn’t who she wanted to be. Even if Carmilla had said something that got to Laura, she didn’t want to be the sort of person whose only response to that was to hit back harder.

She tilted her head up so the stream of the shower hit her in the face and sighed as it ran over her cheeks and down her neck. “Fuuuuuck.” She groaned, slumping a little under the hot spray. “Now I have to go out there and apologize.”

Being a good person _sucked_.

Still, she wondered who Carmilla had lost. It must have been someone important, given her reaction. Her parents, maybe? They must have lived a long time ago, though. “She’s probably lost a lot of people over 300 years.” Laura mused. _‘And yet you basically told her she didn’t know anything about it.’_

Wincing at that realization, she turned the shower off. “Great. Turns out I’m both a terrible person and an idiot.”

She dried off and then lingered in the bathroom for far longer than she had to, nervously pacing back and forth. The fact that the tiny journalism major had accepted that she probably had to apologize to Carmilla didn’t mean that she was particularly eager to go out and do that.

Also, she hadn’t brought her bag so she had nothing to wear but the towel she was wrapped in.

Eventually, the choice was made for her when Carmilla called out. “Cupcake, could you at least come out? Hearing you pace is giving me a headache.”

Laura rubbed her temples. Something told her that Carmilla would not be an easy person to apologize to. Forcing down her ire, she stepped out. The vampire wasn’t in the kitchen, though there was still a shard of what had once been a cup on the floor, and the honey-blonde girl wandered further down the hall into the living room.

Carmilla was sat on the couch with a very large, very old book in her lap and still dressed only in the towel she had swiped from Laura’s bathroom.

Nervously, Laura swallowed as she stepped around the couch. A blanket and pillow rested next to the brooding vampire. “Hey.” Laura muttered.

“Hey.” Carmilla certainly looked a lot calmer than Laura thought she would have been.

What followed was a profoundly awkward silence in which they both stared at each other for a time, before Carmilla was finally the one to break it. “You know, vampire hearing’s pretty sensitive.”

Laura’s thoughts ground to a halt as her face turned an amazing shade of red, before they started up again in a stream of nervous expletives. “Oh…I did not know that.” She silently praised herself when there was only a slight tremor to her voice. “I guess you already know that I want to apologize, then.” The tiny blonde muttered as she ran a hand through her damp hair.

“Yeah.” Carmilla nodded, before she looked down at her knees. “I kind of want to as well. I wasn’t…That was...” She let out an annoyed huff and Laura smiled softly and sat down next to the vampire.

“How about I do this part first?” She asked, trying not to sound quite as amused by the sight of a floundering Carmilla as she was.

A small, slightly sheepish smile pulled at Carmilla’s lips and she nodded without looking up from her knees.

“Alright.” Laura cleared her throat. “I tried to come up with something better, but I just kept rambling in my own head each time, so I’m going to be unoriginal and say I’m sorry.” She really, really wanted to reach out and take Carmilla’s hand. She couldn’t help it. A touchy feely person by nature, Laura had always equated comfort to a hug or at least a gentle touch.

She wasn’t entirely certain if Carmilla would appreciate that, though, even before Laura had tied her to a chair.

“Look,” the honey-blonde girl continued, “you made me mad and I said something I feel really bad about. That’s not who I want to be. I’m sorry, Carmilla. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You didn’t hurt me, Cupcake.” The taller girl scoffed, though her voice lacked conviction. “Just…bad memories.”

“Okay.” It seemed mean to point out that Carmilla certainly seemed hurt. “I…Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

Well, that was clear then. “Okay. That’s okay. At any rate, I’m really sorry, Carmilla.” Laura could suppress her curiosity, honest. It didn’t help that there were already so many questions surrounding Carmilla and that this one in particular was a white-hot piece of iron slowly burning a hole in her inner journalist, but she totally could. It was easy. She just had to ignore the part of herself that was screaming in deafening protest.

Carmilla finally looked up, searching Laura’s expression for something for a moment before she let out a sigh. “I’m sorry too. Look, you’re really annoying, Cupcake.”

Laura frowned. “You suck at this whole apology thing.”

“I’m getting to it.” Carmilla chided with an annoyed motion. “You’re annoying, but it’s mainly because you insist on making my job difficult and putting yourself in danger.” She paused and grinned. “Well, that and the whole goody-two-shoes, thing.”

“Most people would consider that a good thing.” The tiny blonde muttered, pouting.

“That being said,” Carmilla continued, ignoring the other girl “I shouldn’t have said what I did. I was lashing out and trying to make you mad so you’d hit back.” The dark-haired girl let out a bitter laugh. “And you did. I won’t pretend to know what part of what I said hit a sore spot, but I’m sorry.”

“My mother.” Laura surprised herself a little. This wasn’t something she told people often, or easily for that matter. “You reminded me of my mother.” She watched confusion give way to realization and something that seemed like guilt. “Yeah.” Laura nodded to confirm what Carmilla had clearly realized already. “Car crash. I was nine.”

It was a decade ago, and yet even clinically stating it like that tore at something in her chest. That wound would probably never stop hurting.

“Well…Fuck.” Carmilla muttered, frowning at something in the middle distance. “Guess that didn’t do much for the ‘callous bitch’ image, huh?”

“Carmilla…”

“It’s a joke, Cupcake, stop looking at me like I’m a puppy you found by the side of the road.” The vampire rolled her eyes before turning back to Laura. “I am sorry, though.”

Laura smiled weakly. “You didn’t know, Carmilla, and we were both mad. How about we just stop apologizing, hm?”

Carmilla was visibly relieved at that, but still arched a brow at Laura. “You sure, Cupcake? Trust me, this is a rare moment. I don’t apologize a lot.”

Rolling her eyes, Laura playfully shoved the other girl. “Trust me, I noticed.” She pointed at the book in Carmilla’s lap. “What’s that?”

“Ah.” The vampire opened the book and revealed dry, yellowed pages. She quickly began to flip towards a marked page as she talked. “I was thinking about the guy who…who you tied to your radiator. The idiot went on and on about magic and familiars and it made me think of something my mother once talked about. This book is hers.”

“Your mother is still alive?!” Laura asked, wide-eyed.

“Not my birth mother, Poptart. Long story and no, we’re not talking about it.”

“But-“

“No. Now listen.” She stopped on a marked page and began to read one of the entries out loud.

_Familiars, Summoning and Binding:_

_A familiar is a mage’s greatest asset, though it can also be the downfall of the unprepared or the idiotic. Summoned from beyond the veil, these creatures can take a myriad of forms and can serve an equal number of uses to an inventive mage._

_Be warned that these creatures are often intelligent and are under no obligation to be truthful or peaceful unless under contract. Typically, these contracts allow the familiar to siphon magical energy from the mage as a form of sustenance and provide its services in return. This could be simple matters such as assisting in the focus and power of an enchantment or darker matters. If a mage summons something that would require too much energy to sustain long-term, the creature may demand additional forms of compensation from specific food to human sacrifices._

_It should be noted, though, that a mage purposely summoning something they cannot support is not a particularly bright specimen. A good rule of thumb is that one typically cannot control what they cannot support, so an aggressive familiar-to-be might overcome the mage before they can attempt to negotiate._

“It goes on to list ways to summon anything from fairies to demons and how they can help.” Carmilla said, before looking up at the wide-eyed journalism major at her side.

“Holy crap.” Laura breathed, staring at the ancient-looking book. By this point it was barely a surprise that Carmilla apparently just had the equivalent of a magical DIY guide lying around the house. “And they think I summoned you?”  She wasn’t entirely sure whether that was a compliment or not.

The vampire seemed a little surprised too, shrugging at her. “I guess. It probably seemed more plausible to a bunch of mages than the idea that you had a pet panther.” She laughed softly. “Certainly more plausible than a vampire for a bodyguard.”

“Okay…Okay…” Laura muttered, leaning back on the couch as she tried to figure out what that meant. “So they think I’m magic. Wait, am I magic? I don’t feel magic.” She quickly perked up. “Does the big book of magic say how to test if you’re magic?”

“You’d be a mage, not magic, Poptart.” Carmilla explained as if she was talking to a very slow child. “And it doesn’t.” When she noticed the blonde was still looking at her, the dark-haired girl rolled her eyes. “Do I look like Gandalf, Cupcake? I don’t know how to test that either.”

Laura deflated and shook her head. “Man, if I find out I could’ve applied to Hogwarts…” With a smile, she shook her head. “But I guess not. Magic would totally explain how I keep losing socks in the wash, though. Maybe I’m accidentally sending one of every pair to a different dimension.”

At the disparaging look Carmilla threw her, Laura quickly decided to move on. “Right, okay, so a bunch of mages didn’t like that I was looking into the missing girls and apparently believe I’m a mage and have summoned you as some sort of vampire hitwoman.”

Feeling very overwhelmed, Laura took a very deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping it would take the rising panic with it. Suffice to say that it didn’t. “Two days ago I was worried about passing my Journalistic Ethics midterm. I miss those days.” She muttered, dazed. “Now I’ve seen things I never wanted to see, my room is a mess and God only knows how my cat-”

The tiny blonde gasped and slapped a hand over her mouth as shock raced through her body and froze her blood in her veins. “Oh my God! Bagheera!” She shot up and buried her hands in her hair. She had forgotten about her poor cat! “Oh my God! I can’t believe I just left my cat!”

The tiny blonde wasn’t sure what response she had expected, but it wasn’t for Carmilla to start laughing. “Cupcake, I’m pretty sure it’s fine.”

“Not it’s not!” Laura began to frantically pace back and forth, hands still in her hair. “I just left poor Bagheera there. How could I do that?” Everything had been thrown around the room. The poor cat could’ve been hurt for all she knew.

Carmilla only seemed to laugh harder. “Cupcake, seriously.” She tried again with a fond, knowing smile.

“I didn’t even think about it.” Laura moaned. Slowly her hands slipped from hair to hang listlessly at her sides as she stared into the middle distance, horrified. “Oh God, I’m going to be an _awful_ mother.”

She couldn’t even take care of a cat properly. Maybe it would be better if she tried with something less reliant on her. Like a houseplant. Something hard to kill. Like a cactus. There was no way she could kill a cactus and at least it wouldn’t notice if she accidentally abandoned it.

“Oh for God’s sake.” Carmilla muttered, still laughing softly. With a dramatic sigh she stood up and stood in front of Laura. “Cupcake, stop spazzing out for a second and watch.” She said, before she suddenly began to shrink very quickly. And growing hair. Very pretty, soft-looking hair. And a tail. And-oh. Oh!

_Ooooooooooh._

Well.

On the floor in front of Laura, wearing a smug expression that she really should have recognized sooner, sat Bagheera. Or Carmilla. Or both, apparently.

“Oh.” Also, her brain appeared to be stuck.

The cat seemed to wink at her and then transformed back into an equally smug-looking, dark-haired young woman again.

Immediately, questions popped into Laura’s head. Had Carmilla been posing as her cat all along. What had she been doing every time Laura went to class? Where had all that expensive cat food gone? What had she seen…oh no.

“I’VE BEEN NAKED IN FRONT OF YOU!” She screeched, a finger pointed accusingly at Carmilla.

Dark eyes slowly trailed up Laura’s form and a sultry smile spread over her face. “Yes. I noticed, Cupcake. It’s not easily forgotten.”

Laura swallowed. _‘Stupid, sexy vampire and her stupid eyes. If she doesn’t stop smirking I’m going to-no! Focus!’_ She tried to shake the thought off. “That’s not- I can’t believe you’ve been spying on me all this time!”

“Not spying.” The vampire actually seemed to be blushing a little. “It was just so I wouldn’t have to keep hopping back and forth every time you were in some sort of danger.” She protested, crossing her arms. “I can’t help it if you feel the need to talk about _everything._ ”

Laura covered her face with her hands and groaned as every topic she ever talked to what she thought was her cat about played in her mind like a clip show of utter humiliation. “God, I told you about my Harry Potter fanfiction.”

The vampire winced. “Trust me, that was painful for both of us. I mean, really, Cupcake? Ron X Snape?”

“I was, like, 14!” She protested, even as she tried to will herself to stop blushing. “And I’m sorry, it seems I suddenly ran out of sympathy when I learned that I’ve been naked in front of you several times and you didn’t even bother to look away!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Carmilla growled. She rolled her eyes and then, with one fluent motion, ripped off her towel and let it drop to the floor.

Laura froze, mouth half open in surprise.

Pale skin. Nearly flawless, beautiful pale skin. Lots of it. Her thoughts came to a screeching halt as she drank in the sight of Carmilla’s bare body. The fact that Carmilla was gorgeous was hardly news, but this…this was something else. If Carmilla had been saving this as her ‘get out of jail free’ card, it was a damned effective one because Laura had trouble remembering what she was so mad about again.

This so, so wasn’t the time or place for hormones. Actually, the place was fine because they were at Carmilla’s apartment and there was nobody else here to disturb if she reached out and did what Laura so badly wanted to do, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that she had a thousand other things to worry about and take care of.

But this? This wasn’t even remotely fair. That was all the frozen blonde could think as she took in pretty, pink nipples and a perfectly trimmed patch of dark curls that almost tore a hungry moan from her lips. Carmilla was gorgeous and naked and right there and Laura _wanted._

Her lust was like an inferno, fanned by the vision in front of her and spreading quickly throughout her body from her core. Laura felt hot and anxious and hungry in a way that no amount of food could ever sate. She also knew what could, but she couldn’t reach out and take it. Even though she was so close.

“You don’t seem to be in a hurry to look away either, Cupcake.” Carmilla’s voice was even lower than normal. Husky and tempting in the worst way.

 _‘If I just drop this towel, we’d both be naked.’_ Laura thought when she finally managed to look Carmilla in the eye again. It was a dumb thought, because being naked around Carmilla would lead nowhere good no matter how tempting it seemed right now. And no matter how easily Laura could convince herself she saw anticipation in those dark eyes.

As if Carmilla was waiting. Hoping.

Wishful thinking, probably.

“I…You can’t just…” Her first attempt to form words didn’t really produce anything coherent and Carmilla chuckled softly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” The taller girl purred. She quickly ducked down and picked up her towel. “How about we pick this up in the morning, Cupcake? Give you a chance to process…” She pointedly looked down at her own bare body with an infuriatingly sexy smirk. “ _everything.”_

The vampire turned on her heel, leaving the flustered blonde to stare at her swaying ass as she sashayed away. “You can sleep on the couch. Goodnight, Cupcake.”

When the door clicked shut behind Carmilla, Laura flopped down on the couch. Immense relief and disappointment were fighting a match to the death in her head even while she tried to process what the heck had just happened.

In the end, she just wound up wondering if Carmilla would notice if Laura took another shower.

A very, very cold one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was that, Creampuffs?
> 
> It took longer than expected and it made me want to fling my laptop out of the window every now and then, but I'm okay with how it finally turned out. It set up for a few things, so we can dig a little deeper into what's actually going on.
> 
> SirPrize's Shower Thoughts (#8)
> 
> New Shows
> 
> Getting into a new show is always a bit of a gamble. It is kind of a luxury problem, due in no small part to the fact that there is a lot to choose from. I was in the mood for something with a bit of a sci-fi or fantasy, which turned out to be harder than I thought. I tried a few and, well...
> 
> The 100:  
> Yeeeeaaah...Considering the death of Lexa, I won't be picking that show up again. The LGBTQ community has reason to feel betrayed there, even from an outsider's perspective. Even aside from that, I typically don't agree with killing off characters that still had potential stories left in them and Lexa fits the bill 100%.
> 
> The Shannara Chronicles:  
> Oh my god, this show is awful. Amberlee is a doormat, Will is so ungodly boring, the romance between them is dull and based on nothing in the first place which is not helped by the complete lack of chemistry between the actors. The show is focussed on the wrong characters too, as the older elves are far more interesting. Not to mention the bizare pacing. So many big issues are introduced and resolved in the same 30 minutes. I honestly don't remember anything that lasted into the next episode, aside from the general conflict.
> 
> Eretria is kinda cool, though, but also kind of a stereotype. 
> 
> Shadowhunters:  
> Why is everyone on this show hot? Even the supposed nerd character has a fucking sixpack. Frankly, their performance doesn't do much to convince me that some members of the cast were chosen to be anything other than eye candy either. The writing sadly doesn't really save it either.
> 
> I must admit I haven't finished this show, but a few episodes in I just could not keep watching. Maybe it got way better, I wouldn't know, but I sincerely doubt it.
> 
> So yeah, if you have any suggestions Creampuffs, I'll gladly take recommendations for shows to watch!


	7. Blood and Dancing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Creampuffs!
> 
> So it took a while, but here's the next chapter. Like with the last few, I considered splitting it in two, but I’ve basically accepted that chapters for this thing are just going to be long by this point. 
> 
> Furthermore, I didn’t want one chapter to just be talking and planning.
> 
> Anyway, Creampuffs. I hope you enjoy reading!
> 
> Also, I need your help with something, so be sure to check out the notes at the bottom, okay?
> 
> As always, a shout-out to my lovely beta reader, smartassducky!

Laura’s night was…less than pleasant. She lay awake for hours, utterly certain that there was no blood in the room and yet also certain that she could smell it. Objectively she knew that was just in her head, but it didn’t stop the smell from making her sick to her stomach. When sleep did come it was nothing but brief, unsatisfying naps before an image of the officer’s face would appear in her sleeping mind and she’d jerk awake.

Sometimes it was him, sneering down at her and illuminated by the blue glow of the ice spike between his hands. Sometimes it was his face right at the moment where the lines all over his face were glowing a blinding white before they rent him apart from the inside.

The tiny journalism major felt like she only got one or two solid hours of sleep, before she woke up to the feeling of something fuzzy brushing against her skin and a light weight settling on her waist. Still utterly exhausted, she tried to ignore it. However the soft, fuzzy thing had other ideas and brushed up her torso to her breasts, where it lingered for a moment before moving up again and nudging under her chin.

With a weary sigh, Laura opened her eyes to find a very pretty cat leaning on her breasts with its front legs and nudging its head against her neck affectionately. It would have been cute if the cat had actually been a cat. “What are you doing?” Laura murmured, still trying to wake up.

When she realized she’d been caught, Carmilla lapped at Laura’s neck with her raspy cat tongue and purred louder. Given the cat’s clearly amused expression, Laura honestly felt like an idiot for not realizing the similarities sooner.

It also made this very confusing sexually and Laura honestly wasn’t sure what to think of the shiver that raced down her spine. All she knew was that it was way too early to determine whether or not it was okay to be turned on by a cat who was actually a very hot vampire.

“Carmilla, get off.” She groaned, rubbing at her eyes. “Your paws are on my boobs.”

The cat lapped at her neck again and pulled back, still looking highly amused. She began to glow and the weight on Laura’s waist steadily increased as Carmilla grew larger and lost her feline features. The tiny journalism major was both relieved and disappointed when the taller woman fully transformed and it became clear that she had been clothed before she took on her cat form.

Granted, she was only clothed in underwear which barely qualified as lingerie, but Laura couldn’t really bring herself to mention anything about that. Mostly because her mouth had suddenly gone very dry.

Also, Carmilla’s hands were still very much on her boobs.

“A girl can’t find a nice way to wake you after last night, Cupcake?” Carmilla’s voice was soft and husky as she leaned in until there was barely an inch of space between them. “Besides, I think we both know you like my hands just fine where they are.” The vampire smirked and squeezed the younger girl’s breasts through her bra.

Laura let out a low, hungry moan and arched into the touch before she even realised what she was doing. When her brain finally caught up, she found herself already raising her arms to help Carmilla remove her bra. Something which should probably take second place on the list of bad ideas, just below writing ‘free blood’ on her body in O-negative with an arrow pointing to her neck. “C-Carmilla, wait!” She stuttered.

Obligingly, Carmilla’s hands stopped before they were reunited with Laura’s now bare breasts and she gave her overwhelmed lover a questioning look. “What, Creampuff? Is there a problem?” When Laura hesitated, her expression softened. “All you have to do is say no and I’ll stop.” Very slowly, she reached out and began to draw careful circles around Laura’s nipple with a single finger. “Everything will stop.”

“N-not fair.” Laura gasped, fingers digging into the couch just so she wouldn’t reach for Carmilla. The dark-haired beauty knew exactly what she was doing with those maddeningly slow circles. She knew exactly how sensitive she was. Each time Laura managed to gather a thought, Carmilla would deviate from her course and flick or play with the quickly hardening nub and scramble Laura’s thoughts with a brief burst of sensations.

Oh, and they were such wonderful sensations.

The teasing pleasure of that finger skirting the edges of her nipple. The way she’d pointedly dig in her fingernail, careful to never move beyond pleasure into pain. The sweat gathering on Laura’s brow as her breathing slowly sped up.

An offer to just bask in hedonism. A promise of lazy, gentle pleasure.

Carmilla had her totally wrapped around that one finger and the blonde couldn’t bring herself to make it stop.

She reached for the vampire. “Carm…” The breathy moan seemed to echo throughout the room.

Looking hungry and triumphant, Carmilla licked her lips. Both hands came up to fondle Laura’s breasts and she laughed softly as the girl threw her head back and moaned. “Oh Poptart, this is going to be fun.”  She purred, leaning down to lay a trail of feather-light kisses over her chest.

Laura whimpered as Carmilla lingered with her lips pressed against the underside of her breasts, sucking hard enough to leave the first of many marks. The blonde wiggled in her vampiric lover’s grasp. Not to escape, but just because it felt good to wiggle and feel Carmilla all around her. To feel their bodies rubbing together.

Clumsy fingers fiddled with the pale girl’s bra strap until Laura finally heard that soft snap. Carmilla chuckled into Laura’s chest and rewarded her lover by sucking a nipple into her mouth and lavishing it with attention.

Laura yelped so loud she briefly wondered how thick Carmilla’s walls were, before waves of pleasure chased that thought and all others like it from her mind. Faster and more deftly than her finger had done, Carmilla’s tongue flicked and toyed with the nipple trapped in the warmth of her mouth.

Satisfied that it couldn’t be any firmer, Carmilla quickly switched over. A whine left Laura’s lips as her other nipple was abandoned to the cold air of the room, but it soon became a shriek when Carmilla’s fingers pinched and tugged on it.

Her back arched, Laura’s body arched and bucked as stars burst in front of her eyes and the heat in her body consumed everything until there was nothing left but the raging inferno, Carmilla and the climax racing towards her.

And then Carmilla stopped and pulled away.

“Nononononono!” Laura flopped back down to the couch, panting for air as her body teetered on the very edge. She was so close! She was going to cum and it was great and she didn’t know how Carmilla had instantly figured out her every weak spot but the vampire deserved a freaking medal and she was _so Dumbledore damned close!_ “Carmilla!” She cried out, utterly scandalized.

Part of her wanted to beg for more, part of her wanted to throttle the unbearable vampire and part of the tiny journalism major wanted to do all of the above while she ground her sopping slit all over that perfect face until she finished what the vampire had started.

 _‘She hasn’t even taken off my panties yet.’_ Laura thought, looking up at Carmilla as she tried to catch her breath.

Carmilla threw off her unhooked bra and took Laura’s wrists, pinning them above her head. With a seductive smile, the vampire leaned down until she could run her tongue over her short lover’s neck. “Not yet, Cupcake.” She purred. “Not yet.”

One of Carmilla’s hands left her breasts and slid down Laura’s waist, nails leaving thin red marks on her skin. After what felt like far too long to the flustered blonde, that hand finally reached its destination.

“These are nice.” Carmilla muttered, toying with the waistband of Laura’s panties. They were black and lacy. Intended for seduction rather than practicality. Laura had bought them in a moment of madness with Danny in mind, before their argument. Also, she was fairly certain that these were not the panties she had put on this morning.

Of course that was impossible to focus on when Carmilla was rubbing her pussy through them.

“Oops. Ruined them.” The vampire said with a blatant lack of remorse. She kept up her ministrations just long enough to reduce Laura to a writing mess once again. “If I’d know how much fun you were to toy with I’d have done this sooner.” Carmilla whispered into her ear.

That lit a spark of defiance in Laura. Sure she was embarrassingly turned on, but Laura Hollis was nobody’s toy. She tried to roll them over and turn the tables, but she couldn’t even begin to budge Carmilla with her supernatural strength.

“Not…fair…” Laura panted, only struggling harder when Carmilla smirked smugly. “You’re…cheating…”

“Fair play isn’t really a vampire thing.” The pale girl chuckled and shrugged. “Speaking of which…” Carmilla dragged her long, sharp fangs up Laura’s neck until she reached her ear. The fangs never broke the skin, but they left a trail of goose bumps in their wake  “I really want to bite you, Laura.”

Laura sobbed with pleasure and tried to tell herself it was just because a gorgeous woman was licking and sucking on her neck. However, she couldn’t deny the way images of Carmilla with her fingers in Laura’s pussy and her fangs in her neck filled her mind. She couldn’t deny how it made her core clench and her clit throb…though maybe that was because Carmilla was rubbing the silk of her panties against the nub.

Carmilla lowered her body so they were was no space between them. Legs entangled, skin to skin and breasts pressed together. “If you let me bite you, I’ll give you what you waaaant.” The vampire sang with a predatory grin. “Over and over again, Cupcake, until you don’t even know if you want to wake up with my tongue on your clit or my fangs in your neck.”

“I…I…” Laura couldn’t think because nothing seemed to exist but the fingers rubbing her through her panties, the honeyed words Carmilla seemed to be pouring directly into the depths of her mind and the velvet of the vampire’s couch underneath them.

…Even though Laura was fairly certain the couch had been leather when they started.

“I what, Cupcake?” Carmilla laughed softly, tugging those dark panties up into Laura’s slit with a cruel grin.

“I want a turn.” The words escaped her before Laura could stop them and then there was no holding the flood they started. “It’s not fair if you’re the only one who gets to touch.” She tried to seem determined, even if her entire body was thrumming with need and Laura felt like she would explode if Carmilla stopped touching her.

Carmilla let out a bark of laughter. “Oh Cupcake, let’s not pretend you didn’t get _very_ wet when I pinned you down.”

Despite everything, Laura still blushed and stammered. “I-I…That’s just entirely beside the point and-Would you listen to me?!”

Utterly ignoring her, the vampire was already tugging of Laura’s ruined panties victoriously. “You’ll get a turn, Cupcake.” She said, rolling her eyes. “Once I’ve had my fill of you...in more ways than one.”

Dark eyes locked on Laura’s and the short journalism major felt a shiver of anticipation travel up her spine as the vampire dragged her nails slowly up Laura’s thigh. “Do you want to cum, Cupcake?”

“You have-Ah!-no idea.” Laura breathed, biting her lip. Her heart felt like it was going to break through her ribcage with the way it was pounding ever faster. _‘Can she hear that? That’s…kind of hot and really embarrassing.’_

Gaze locked on Laura’s trapped lip, Carmilla groaned. “Do you want to be bitten?”

Laura swallowed dryly, watching those wicked fangs glint in the room’s dim lighting. Carmilla looked like the predator she was and-dammit normal people shouldn’t find that hot! “…Yes.”

Carmilla surged forwards, drawing Laura into a messy, hungry kiss. Their tongues duelled furiously, both of them moaning into the other’s mouth. They only broke apart for short, gasping breaths which only Laura actually needed. All the while, Carmilla’s hand drew ever closer to Laura’s sopping slit.

Just before it reached its destination, Carmilla pulled away still sucking on Laura’s tongue. The blonde’s eyes fluttered open and she gasped at what she saw as the heat consuming her left as quickly as it had spread. Instead, ice seemed to spread through her veins as she took in the room.

Blood. There was blood everywhere. The room stank of it. The more Laura looked, the more she identified pieces of what must have once been a person. She turned back to find Carmilla similarly covered in gore, openly laughing at her.

“Death seems to have a thing for you, Cupcake. It follows you around like a lost puppy.” She wiped some off the blood off of her breasts and licked her fingers clean. “Guess it’s a good thing I’m already dead.”

As she spoke, black lines began to spread all over Carmilla. Starting from her navel, they wrapped around her torso, spiralled around her legs and arms and climbed up her neck to her face until they vanished underneath her hairline. Carmilla’s mouth moved again, but the only thing Laura heard was a banging noise.

Frozen in terror, she could only watch as the lines began to glow white. As if in slow motion, she could see them widen, see the skin bulge and crack and burst as the vampire’s body was rent apart by the invisible force.

Again Carmilla spoke and again Laura only heard the sound of the impact as the warped visage of the once-gorgeous creature leaned in as if to kiss her again while the glowing lines grew blinding.

And then she woke up.

Laura jerked awake, sitting bolt upright and panting like she had sprinted all the way to Carmilla’s apartment, to her dorm, and back. Her entire body was slick with sweat and the relief that washed over her from the way it clung to the _leather_ couch was almost palpable. Sadly, so was the shame that came with admitting that fear was hardly the only reason for her perspiration.

There was a familiar wetness between her thighs and even as she recovered from her nightmare/wet dream, her clit throbbed and her fingers ached to soothe it. She refused to give in though. No way in Hell or Hogwarts was she masturbating to Carmilla.

 _‘Yes, claim that moral high ground after dreaming about her mouth on your breasts. A real beacon of restraint you are, Hollis.’_ The blonde chastised herself silently.

The tiny blonde jumped when she heard another loud bang like in her dream and for a moment she froze, expecting another Carmilla to wander in to the room, but then there was another bang and she realized the noise was coming from the kitchen.

Laura hopped off of the couch and winced when she noticed two things. The good news was that she was indeed wearing very sensible panties, rather than the lacy things she’d been wearing in her dream. The bad news was that they had an obvious wet spot on them.

Deciding not to walk around in those, the tiny journalism major quickly hobbled over to her overnight bag.

Dressed in the sweatpants and Wonder Woman t-shirt she’d thrown into the bag last night, Laura went to investigate the racket Carmilla was making in the kitchen.

Apparently, the vampire had thrown all of her cupboards open. So violently, in fact, that some were hanging awkwardly on their hinges. The freezer compartment of Carmilla’s fridge was open too and the vampire had stuck her head into the fridge to look for something.

“Are you okay?” Laura asked, eyeing a crooked cabinet door warily.

The vampire took a deep, slow breath and turned to look at Laura. Her posture was tense, her eyes were dark and the whole thing set off a sort of primal alarm in Laura’s mind. “I’m out of blood.” Carmilla growled.

After a few seconds of silence, Laura blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I’m. Out. Of. Blood.” Carmilla repeated, crankily tugging on the oversized shirt she’d worn to bed. “I have been so busy watching after your danger-prone ass that I have not had time to go through the pain in the ass of getting fresh blood from my sources.” She threw the fridge door shut hard enough for the whole thing to scoot back and bump against the wall.

“Oh.” Laura muttered, quickly moving out of Carmilla’s way as the irate vampire moved to the other side of the kitchen to raid the equally empty cabinets on that side. “Can I-”

“You look terrible.” Carmilla interrupted as she stuck her head in a cabinet and snarled at a dusty box of Weetabix.

“…Good morning to you too.” The honey-blonde journalism major crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Carmilla.

“That wasn’t-ugh.” Carmilla threw the cabinet door shut again hard enough to crack the wood. “I meant to ask if you were okay.” She turned to Laura and did her best to look concerned. “Nightmares?”

“Yeah.” Laura muttered, not quiet able to look Carmilla in the eye right at that moment. Partially because of the sexual nature of the dream and partially because she was terrified that, if she looked up, she would see black lines spreading over Carmilla’s face. “Just…I dunno. I think I’m not gonna be anywhere near alright for a while.”

Carmilla made a noise that could have been either disinterest or acknowledgement. “It’ll pass.”

They stood in awkward silence for a bit, before Laura spoke again. “Can I do something?” When Carmilla gave her a confused look, she shrugged. “You’re hungry, right? Is there something I can do?”

The pale girl looked a little surprised at the offer, but scoffed and shook her head. “Not unless you’re volunteering yourself as breakfast, Cupcake.”

_“Do you want to be bitten?”_

Dream-Carmilla’s voice seemed to echo in her mind and for a second Laura was certain she felt a possessive hand on her waist. She shivered and did her best to think about other things. Like puppies. Good old, adorable,  completely sexless puppies. “Yeeeeeaaaah, _no._ I was thinking more along the lines of breakfast?” She gestured at the cupboards. Carmilla didn’t have much, but there was some stuff to work with. “It’s not blood, but does it help if you have _something_ to eat at least?”

The vampire looked at the short journalism major as if she was trying to figure out where the catch was. “A bit, I suppose.” She finally answered. “But I’ll need to feed sooner rather than later.”

Laura smiled and began pulling things out of the damaged cabinets. “Great! I’ll freshen up first and then you can wash up while I see about breakfast, okay?” She offered, fishing a carton of eggs out of the fridge.

With a playful smirk, Carmilla raised a brow. “You, Cupcake? I’ve seen your regular diet.” She nodded at the eggs. “It doesn’t really inspire confidence in your ability not to poison us with those.”

Laura rolled her eyes and dumped the carton on the counter. “I can cook, Carmilla.” She slapped the vampire’s arm as she passed her on the way out of the kitchen. “Or fry an egg without killing anyone, at least. Be prepared to be wowed by my culinary skill.”

Before she slipped into the bathroom, Laura called to Carmilla over her shoulder. “And get dressed! We need to go back to my room and figure out what we’re going to do next.”

“Are you always this bossy in the morning?” The mistress of the night whined, sulking over to her bedroom.

After a quick wash, Laura started on some truly basic fried eggs. And it wasn’t because of her lack of culinary skills, thank you very much. No matter how little practice those skills had seen ever since Laura had found that cheap take-out place on campus. No, it was just that Carmilla barely had anything in her fridge that wasn’t very expensive wine.

Hell, it took Laura five minutes of searching before she found a pair of very dusty salt and pepper shakers.

When the eggs were fried to the honey-blonde chef’s satisfaction, she dumped them on two plates and turned to put them on the kitchen table. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she found Carmilla leaning against the wall on the other side of the kitchen, watching her. “Jeez, Carmilla, you scared the crap out of me. What were you doing?”

“Just thinking.” Carmilla muttered as she sauntered over to the table. She’d pulled on a plaid shirt over a black tube-top and yet another pair of leather pants. “Not a lot of people would stay and offer to make a hungry vampire breakfast.”

“Yes, well…” Laura muttered, not quite sure what to make of the look Carmilla was giving her. “Most people frighten too easily.”

“Or maybe you don’t frighten easily enough.” Carmilla countered, taking one of the plates from Laura. “Thanks, Cupcake.” She plopped down at the table with her food and dug in without another word.

“So?” Laura prodded, taking the chair opposite the (much) older girl. “Good, right? Behold my culinary art.”

Carmilla arched a brow and smirked at Laura. “Your culinary art is kind of bland, Cupcake.”

Pouting, Laura gestured at the largely empty cabinets and fridge. “Gosh, I wonder if it has something to do with the lack of actual food here. I swear, all you have is wine.” She muttered as she began to cut her eggs.

Still smirking, Carmilla nudged Laura’s foot with her own. “Okay, first of all, only one person in this room actually needs regular food and you survive solely off of processed sugar in its myriad forms. You don’t get to comment.” She teased. “Secondly, only a poor craftsman blames their tools, Cutie.”

Laura almost choked on her eggs when she tried to argue, much to Carmilla’s amusement. “That only applies if there are tools to blame! This is a tool-less kitchen!” She said when she finally stopped coughing. Though the blonde was glaring at the vampire, a smile pulled at her lips.

Still laughing softly, Carmilla shook her head and turned to her eggs again. “All I’m hearing is excuses for sub-par cooking, Cupcake.”

After breakfast Laura quickly threw her things back into her bag while Carmilla cleared away the dishes. Which, in Carmilla’s mind, apparently meant dumping them in the sink and leaving them until they either washed themselves or grew sentient mold and walked out on their own. The fact that this annoyed Laura immensely only seemed to make it more amusing to the vampire.

For a woman of over 300 years old, she was remarkably childish.

Of course, then came the thing Laura had been dreading all morning. Returning to her room. Which was still filled with blood and chunks of ex-person. She hadn’t gotten very far in cleaning that up last night, so they would have to do it now before they could decide on their next move. Just the thought made her stomach turn.

She took Carmilla’s arm and gasped when the vampire teleported them. Just like last night, she spent either a second or an eternity in a formless void where she was robbed of all of her senses, before they reappeared in Laura’s dorm room and they were suddenly returned all at once.

“Laura!” Lafontaine and Perry both jumped when the vampire and the journalism major appeared in the middle of the room in a puff of black smoke.

“Hey Laf. Hey Perry.” Laura muttered, stumbling into Laf as she tried to deal with the vertigo that came with vampiric teleportation. “Why are you in my room?” She asked as Laf gently guided her to sit on the bed. “Are those brownies?”

Perry looked down at the tray in her hands and smiled awkwardly at Laura. “Apology brownies. I know I got a little…snippy with all you yesterday.”

“She cleaned your room too.” Laf chimed in. “…In fact I don’t think she slept.”

Perry’s knuckles turned white as she gripped the tray. “Well, I needed _something_ to do to distract myself from the fact that you all seem to be ignoring that the world has gone insane and that our impending doom is-” She took a deep, shaky breath and shook her head. “No. No. You know what? Everything is fine. It’s _fine._ We are going to fix this and then everything. Will. Be. _Fine_.”

The ginger floor don’s smile turned slightly manic and the brownies began to bounce as her entire body seemed to vibrate with repressed stress. “There will be no talk of magic. There will be no talk of vampires. You will come to me with normal problems and I will not have to bribe campus security to ignore the bag of brain matter and body parts they saw me dump in the lake.”

“Wait, what?” Lafontaine gave their friend a confused and kind of bizarrely proud look. “You bribed campus security?”

“Yes, and we will never speak of it again.” Perry let out a manic little giggle that chilled Laura to the bone. “We will have tea on Tuesdays and you will come to me with normal problems. Like girl problems or menstrual problems and worries about midterms which I know you haven’t studied for, _Laura._ ” She took another deep breath. “And there will be movie nights and dances and floor parties and everything will be good and nice and normal and fine and nice and fine and good and _fine._ ”

“...Holy shit.” Carmilla whispered, breaking the awkward silence that had settled over the room after Perry stopped speaking. The blonde, the ginger and the vampire all watched the prim redhead uncertainly.

Laura was fairly certain she was more intimidated by Perry right at that moment than she had been for most of last night.

“Sure, Perr.” Lafontaine said as if they were talking their fellow ginger off of a ledge. “Anything you want.” Carefully they reached out and put a hand on Perry’s arm. “House Hunters marathon later?”

Perry calmed down enough to stop trembling, but her grip didn’t relax and her eye didn’t stop twitching until Laf began rubbing small circles on her back. “Yes…Yes, that would be lovely sweety.” She sighed.

“Ooohoookay.” Laura muttered, eyeing the two gingers nervously. She hesitantly reached for a brownie, still not entirely certain Perry wouldn’t bite her hand off. “Well, you did an amazing job with my room, Perry. Thank you.”

She really had. The place still looked like a tornado had passed through, but the broken shelves and one of her closet doors had been stacked in a neat pile in the corner of the room. More importantly, the place wasn’t covered in blood and gore anymore. Her walls were clean, the carpet had been washed and dried seemingly by hand and even her bed linen had been cleaned and replaced. In fact, it looked cleaner than it did when Laura arrived.

“I can’t believe you got the blood out of everything.” Laura mused, amazed.

A proud little smile tugged at Perry’s lips. “Well, everything can be cleaned if you just have the right fluid and use a little elbow grease.”

Lafontaine looked at the previously gore-splattered wall and frowned. “Really? Because at the molecular level that really shouldn’t have worked with the paint on these-” They trailed off when Perry put a hand on their knee and gave them a dangerous look.

“The right fluid. And. Elbow grease.” The floor don’s tone was sugary sweet, but her eyes spoke of unpleasant fates for anyone who pushed the matter further.

The biology major swallowed and nodded quickly. “Yes, ma’am.” Eager for a change of topic, they turned back to Laura. “Oh, Frosh. We couldn’t find your cat.” They gestured at the room. “I thought the little hellspawn might’ve gotten hurt in the chaos last night, but we looked under everything and even inside of the cupboards. Did you let her out of the room?”

Laura glanced at Carmilla, who was smirking at her and mouthed the word meow. She let out an embarrassed laugh and gave her ginger friends an embarrassed look. “Well, don’t worry about that. See, you know how my cat was this stubborn, obstinate, arrogant little-”

Laura explained Carmilla’s ploy of hiding as her pet cat, as well as the book  the two had brought with them and its description of what exactly a familiar was. For the sake of her own dignity, she left out the part where Carmilla dropped her towel and Laura spent a good minute or so staring with her jaw on the floor.

And the dream. Nobody would ever know about the dream.

“That explains so much.” Lafontaine mumbled, staring into the middle distance. “And I don’t even mean about the familiar thing.” They turned to look at Carmilla. “You kept glaring at everything. How did we not realize sooner?”

Carmilla arched a brow at them. “Well, we hadn’t met.” She drawled. “Also, you’re a bunch of lackwits.”

“That lovely contribution aside.” Perry huffed, frowning at Carmilla. “At least we know what that man was talking about now. Clearly they think Laura summoned Carmilla.”

Carmilla made a noise of agreement. “That would explain why they keep using the same spell on me, even though it doesn’t work.” She sat down and leaned against the wall, flipping through the weathered pages of the book. “There’s something about reversing a summoning in here. I think they were trying to banish me.”

“And it didn’t work because…well…they’ve got the wrong supernatural creature.” Laura muttered, rubbing her temples as she tried to work out a plan. “Okay…Okay, that’s good.” She nodded. “Yeah, that’s good. Carmilla’s fine so long as they keep using a spell that doesn’t affect her.” She frowned in confusion. “Wait, can magic hurt you in the first place?” She asked Carmilla.

The vampire shrugged, still flipping through the book. “Not the stuff they’ve been using. Does it matter, Cupcake?”

“Of course it matters!” Laura protested angrily. “Carmilla, what if you’re not careful and they _do_ have something that could hurt you?” She wasn’t sure if it was the hundreds of years of near immortality, Carmilla’s general cockiness or her general nihilism that made her disregard the notion so casually. Either way, the idea of anyone getting hurt protecting her turned Laura’s stomach, even Carmilla.

The vampire eyed her oddly for a moment and then drew up her knees and hid behind the book. “There’s a few things that would be dangerous.” She grudgingly admitted after a few seconds of tense silence. “Anything that could set me on fire or decapitate me for a start. Not to mention that magic typically hurts more than regular physical force. They haven’t thrown any of that around yet, though. Even creating a spark can be pretty tricky.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t worry about them trying things like that in the future.” Laura argued. “They’re going to get tired of failing to banish you sooner or later.” Knowing Carmilla had yet to face anyone who was actually dangerous to her was reassuring, at least. _‘Hopefully she won’t have to.’_

Laura hated the idea that she needed protecting.

“Maybe the book has ways to keep them from casting spells?” Laf suggested, reaching in their bag for something. “But we need to talk about something else first.” They pulled a stack of papers out. “Remember the badge? Well, I couldn’t really sleep for most of last night between keeping Perry from cleaning our dorm for the sixth time and…other obvious reasons. So instead I kept comparing badge numbers.”

“Did you find a match?” Laura perked up, though her spirits quickly sank again when the redhead nodded solemnly.

“I did. Well, only a partial match because we’ve only got part of the badge but I don’t see any other numbers that really come close.” Laf flipped to the last page and pointed at the number at the top. “The issue is just that it belongs to the chief.”

Sometimes Laura wondered what she had done in a previous life that fate felt like chucking stuff like this at her head. She took the paper from her ginger friend. “Sylvester McCoy. Chief of police.” The paper wrinkled as her grip tightened. “So the best match we have is with the man who essentially runs the police here.”

“Yup.” Laf muttered, popping the p. “Which also means we should just assume that everyone who’s been coming after you is part of the police too.” They paused and a look of realization spread over their face. “Actually, the police having mages on staff would explain the mysterious lack of graffiti in this city.”

Laura groaned and sank down on her bed. “Great. This is just _great_. The mages are also cops now.” She ran her hands over her face and took a deep breath just to keep from bursting into hysterical tears. The number of people they could potentially turn to for help was very quickly shrinking.

Lafontaine sat down next to the distraught journalism major and rubbed her back. “I’m sorry Frosh, but this isn’t really such a big setback.” They threw the honey-blonde girl a wry smile. “It’s not like you could rock up at the police station and mention that Voldemort put a hit out on you in the first place.”

Laura let out a shaky laugh while Perry slapped her friend in the back of the head. “Lafontaine! Don’t turn poor Laura’s situation into a joke.” She chastised her fellow ginger.

“No, no it’s fine. They’re right.” Laura sighed, rubbing at her eyes. “I was never going to get much help there. I have to get myself out of this.” Not that she really knew where to even start with that. Apparently, learning that magic existed had a way of ruining most of your plans.

“Hey!” Lafontaine protested, nudging Laura . “ _We_ have to get you out of this. You didn’t seriously think we’d leave you to do this alone, did you?” They asked, looking very unimpressed.

“Guys, this isn’t a game.” Laura turned pleading eyes on the two redheads and took one of Lafontaine’s hands in her own. “This is dangerous. Really, really dangerous. I’m not saying you can’t handle it because you’re both so great and so brave, but we might actually die here.” Her insides clenched with panic even as she acknowledged that. “You’ve already done so much for me. Please don’t put yourselves in any more danger.”

“Yeah, okay, screw all of that.” The biology major rolled their eyes and glared at the blonde. “Laura, you’re my friend and people want to kill you. How am I not supposed to help?!” They jerked their hand free and threw them up in exasperation. “Who am I even if I can’t stand by my friend at a time like this?”

“They’re right, dear.” Perry said much more gently as she placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “We’re not just going to sit back, even if you ask us to and even if it’s dangerous.” She pursed her lips and looked around the room. “But if we make it through this I will expect you to be much more thorough in cleaning the communal kitchen when you’re done cooking.”

Lafontaine chuckled and shook their head. “Priorities, Perr.”

“You guys…” Laura muttered, a hand over her mouth to hide her quivering lip. Part of her was so incredibly happy that she’d found friends like these. Most of her was just terrified that she’d lose them.

“Oh come here you emotional mess.” The redheaded biology major smiled and hauled Laura into a hug which the short journalist-to-be gratefully accepted. Perry soon joined the hug, wrapping her arms around the both of them and settling her cheek on Lafontaine’s head.

“It’s alright.” Laf muttered as Laura cried into their shirt.

“No it’s not.” Laura replied, her voice muffled.

The redhead only shrugged. “Well, it will be. Just watch.”

They stayed like that for a while, until Carmilla loudly cleared her throat from her spot on the floor. “Not that this scene isn’t warming my cold, dead heart or anything,” she drawled sarcastically “but can we get back to the problem at hand?”

The three friends broke out of the hug and Lafontaine just smirked at the vampire. “You’re just mad because you were left out of the group hug.”

Carmilla arched a brow and dropped the book, opening her arms wide with a confrontational look on her face. “Be my guest. Let’s check the pressure your spine can withstand.”

“Carm, stop threatening my friends.” Laura reprimanded, wiping the few remaining tears from her eyes while Laf slowly backed away from Carmilla. “You’re right, though. We need to think for a second.” She pulled her knees up to her chest so she could rest her head against them.

“Okay, what do we know?” The journalism major asked as she tried to gather her thoughts. “Our partial badge number matches part of the police chief’s number. What does that mean?”

“Probably that he’s involved.” Lafontaine answered with a shrug. “Possibly even behind the whole thing.”

“It could also mean a thousand other things.” Carmilla argued with a roll of her eyes. “Anything from the actual kidnapper trying to frame him to attempted blackmail or something.”

Laura sighed. “Okay, either way we can’t go to the police…who wouldn’t believe us anyway.” She bit her lip in thought. They had a suspect, but no proof or real leads to go on. “How do we either prove it’s the chief or exclude him as a suspect?” She muttered.

“I’d say scan the scene, but that ship’s sailed, returned to port laden with exotic wealth and sailed again.” Lafontaine answered, rubbing their chin. “We would need something more conclusive than the badge that puts him at the scene. Like hair or a weapon or-”

“The knife!” Laura’s head shot up. “SJ had a knife on her. It was still in the car and it was totally bloody!”

“Could she have stabbed her attacker?” Perry asked, glancing from Lafontaine to Laura and back. “If her attacker’s blood is on it…”

“It could be used to identify an attacker!” Lafontaine cried out, though their excitement was short-lived. “If it’s not just SJ’s blood, that is. And either way, that thing’s probably locked in an evidence room by now.”

Laura groaned and let her head drop back against the wall. “Great, so…what? We somehow sneak into the evidence room at the police station, find the knife that may or may not be of any use to us and take it back here for testing?”

“Not only that, but we’d need something from the police chief too.” The redheaded biology major muttered with a defeated look. “And short of jabbing him with a syringe or ripping out a chunk of hair or something…I’m not sure how we’re supposed to do that.”

“That’s not as hard as all that.” Carmilla muttered, thoughtfully staring at her mother’s book even though she hadn’t turned a page in the last ten minutes. “How much would we need?”

“Not much, I suppose.” Lafontaine admitted. “Like a drop of blood about the size of a dime when smeared out would be enough.” They looked around the room. “Also, am I the only one who finds it unsettling to discuss this with a vampire.”

“It’s not like we’d be stringing him up by his ankles and draining him. Or hurting him at all, for that matter.” Laura protested.

“Because why should anyone have any fun?” Carmilla grumbled.

“Oh, you be quiet.” Laura shot the vampire an exasperated look and tried to resist the urge to smile. “We don’t even know if the knife is still at the station anyway.” She chewed on her lip for a moment. “I suppose I could pretend to interview an officer for…like a journalism project or something to make sure where the knife actually is.”

Lafontaine perked up and they jumped to their feet. “I think I have a better idea!” They sprinted out of the room and came sprinting back in a few seconds later with a wrinkled paper clutched in their hands. “There’s a charity gala tonight.” They said as they shoved the paper at Laura. “Lots of important people are showing up, like the mayor.”

Perry looked over her friend’s shoulder at the paper and made a thoughtful noise. “They’re right. Apparently it’s for the family of police officers who got killed in the line of duty. And it says Chief McCoy will be there too.”

“Laf, this is perfect!” Laura cheered as her eyes skimmed the article. “At a public event like this, we can just walk up and ask him questions.” She frowned once she reached the end of the article. “It’s invitation only, though.”

“We’ll just sneak in, we can work that out later.” Lafontaine waved off the concerns with a wide grin. They were a little too excited about this whole thing. “You can be a journalist and I’ll be…your assistant or your camera person or something.”

“Wait, why can’t I go?” Perry asked, wringing her hands. “I don’t mean to say that I want to, because sneaking into an event organised by the police to question the chief is crazy, but…”

Laura and Perry shot each other an uncomfortable look before Lafontaine turned back to their friend. “Perr, you’re great, but the mere thought of someone breaking the rules has you breaking out in hives. That’s gonna raise some questions.”

“We could use a getaway driver.” Laura offered, heart clenching as she looked at the older redhead’s expression. Who knew Perry could pout so well? “We might have to leave quickly, so it would be good to have someone waiting in the car.”

Lafontaine couldn’t quite contain an amused snort. “Clearly you’ve not seen her drive.” The biology major muttered. Their grin quickly faded, though, when Perry turned her wounded expression on them. “Oh come on, don’t look at me like-you know what, fine. You can be our driver so long as you don’t stop for a yellow light.”

The prim redhead huffed and tossed her hair back. “There is nothing wrong with proper road safety.” She said, before turning to fluff Laura’s pillows as if that put an end to the discussion.

“Yeah, you’re not going.” Carmilla lazily drawled as she shut her book.

“Why not?!” Laura asked, crossing her arms. “Carmilla, this is the best shot we have at getting some answers!”

“Relax, Creampuff, I didn’t mean you weren’t.” Carmilla said, before pointing at Lafontaine. “I meant the ginger lab rat there.”

“What? Why the hell not?!” Lafontaine asked, incredulous.

“Because I am.” Carmilla answered. “Or did you think it was a good idea to walk the Cupcake into a party organized by the police when the police want to kill her?” She gave Lafontaine a challenging look. “If the chief is involved, how did you plan to protect her when this all goes to hell?”

“It’s not like the entire police force will be in attendance.” The redhead argued, though their expression made it clear that they knew they were losing. “And I have a Taser.”

“That’s fantastic. You can stop _a single person_.” The vampire praised them like one would praise the drawing of a 3-year old. “Unless you have one that shoots out fifty of those little darts at once.”

“Sadly not.” Lafontaine admitted with a defeated look. “But I’m totally stealing that idea.” They turned to Laura and shrugged. “She makes a good point. The chief might not know who you are if you give him a different name, but there might be officers there who do know. It could get dangerous once you leave.”

“Plus Carm can just teleport us inside.” Laura muttered thoughtfully. There really were more advantages than disadvantages to bringing the vampire. “Crap, she’s right.” The words almost physically hurt to say.

Laura hopped off of the bed and wandered over to the sink. “Okay, well we need to-hey!” She all but dove into her waste basket headfirst and came back up cradling her Tardis mug and the handle that had snapped off in last night’s chaos. “Perry! Did you throw this away?!”

The older redhead looked at her strangely, part disgusted that Laura had just been digging around in the trash and part confused about why she’d dug up something like that. “Eh, yes dear. It’s broken.”

“I don’t care that it’s broken just…I’m not throwing it away, okay?” Laura muttered as she put the pieces down on the counter. Even with the state her room was in, nothing made her feel worse than seeing the broken handle and the crack that now ran up the side. _‘It’s the last piece of her…’_

Before she could start crying again, she quickly turned back to her friends. “So, how are we gonna do this?” She asked, trying to ignore the fact that they were all looking at her strangely.

Lafontaine and Perry couldn’t stay much longer as Lafontaine had a class and Perry had to go deal with her nerves by obsessively cleaning every inch of the dorm. The older redhead did stay long enough to help Laura pick out a dress .

An elegant, dark blue thing that showed off her arms and curves. Laura wasn’t sure why, but Perry had seemed pretty adamant that she wear this dress tonight. Frankly, after the last outburst, who was she to argue with Perry?

The journalism major herself spent the day skipping class and finding information on Sylvester McCoy, just so she knew what kind of man the chief of police actually was. Carmilla, meanwhile, hung around in her dorm room while she switched between calling all of her contacts and angrily shouting at them about why they couldn’t deliver blood immediately.

After the fifth angry call, Laura looked up from her laptop and gave the seething vampire a sympathetic smile. “Still no luck, I take it?”

“No.” Carmilla snarled, holding her phone so tightly it just about cracked the plastic. “Oh I’m sorry, we value your patronage but you understand this is a delicate operation. Oh, surely you understand that we can’t just bump you up the waiting list, blablabla.” She mockingly imitated her contacts. “I swear, when they do finally get me something I’m going to bite their delivery person out of spite.”

The vampire tossed her phone away and rubbed her temples with a sigh. “This gala’s gonna suck.”

Laura hadn’t really considered that. The blonde got plenty grumpy when she had to go without food, but her food wasn’t other people. Putting a hungry vampire in a crowd maybe wasn’t such a great idea. “Will you be okay?” She asked. “With all of those people around, I mean.”

Carmilla didn’t look up to face Laura and just kept rubbing her temples. “I’m over 300 years old, Cupcake. Alright is a big word, but I can control myself.”

Laura bit her lip. The pale girl really didn’t look great. She seemed even paler than normal, her movements were just a little less graceful and her entire body was tense. Carmilla was clearly confident she could keep it together, but if she didn’t things would not turn out well.

Best to take care of it before it could become a problem, right? She rolled up her sleeve and tried to force down her anxiety. _‘This is probably the worst idea I’ve had all month.’_ She thought, before she extended her arm and held the bare wrist in front of Carmilla’s face. “Here.”

Carmilla’s expression went from confusion to abrupt realization to something akin to disbelief and panic as she looked from Laura to her wrist and back. “Cupcake, are you nuts?” She asked as she shoved the shorter girl’s arm away. “If this is another trap it’s really poorly thought out.”

“It’s not!” Laura protested, a little hurt by the lack of faith. Not that Carmilla didn’t have good reason, but still. “I need to make sure you’re okay so that, if something goes wrong, you can actually get us out of there.” She reasoned. “Besides, you don’t look great.”

“Gee, thanks, Cupcake.” Carmilla deadpanned, still pointedly not looking at the wrist hovering inches from her lips. “I think I know why you’re single.”

“Oh just shut up and bite me.” Laura groaned, already utterly done with this. If nothing else, at least Carmilla’s attitude had ensured she wasn’t nervous anymore.

“Alright, fine!” Carmilla grabbed Laura’s wrist to hold it steady and then just stared at it uncertainly. Laura waited patiently, but when the silence stretched on for a few minutes she finally got tired of it.

“Do you need a written invitation?” She asked, mockingly sweet. “Stop being a wuss and just bite m-HOLY MOTHER OF-“

Suddenly there were fangs buried in her wrist and _holy crapsticks_ did that hurt! Agony raced up her arm and the honey-blonde girl had to resist the urge to jerk the injured appendage away and cradle it against her chest.

Tears sprung to her eyes and Laura quickly closed them, taking deep breaths to deal with the pain. Eventually other sensations began to break through, like a strange sucking that left her arm tingling and the way Carmilla’s thumb rubbed over her skin soothingly.

And then came the warmth. Not entirely pleasant, but not unpleasant either, it spread through her body slowly from the bite wound and left her feeling weird and tingly. It drew her focus away from the pain and towards the feeling of Carmilla’s tongue running over her skin to lap up blood and those dark eyes that were looking up at her.

Laura was struck by how weirdly intimate this was, with Carmilla on her knees and that tongue on her skin. Much as she tried, she couldn’t help but think about last night’s dream and that just saw all of the warmth gathering between her legs.

Finally Carmilla pulled away, sending another twinge of pain up her blonde blood bag as her fangs pulled out. Carmilla’s tongue traced a drop that spilled from the wounds down Laura’s arm and once it was gone the two remained frozen in their places, just looking at each other.

“You should put a Band-Aid on that.” Carmilla’s raspy voice finally broke the spell.

“Wha-Eh, yeah. Yeah, of course.” Laura cleared her throat and quickly agreed. She stood up on slightly wobbly legs. “Are you okay now?”

The vampire nodded, her dark eyes following Laura’s every move in a way that was both distressing and worryingly enticing. “I took very little, but it’ll keep me going.”

“Okay. That’s good. That’s great.” Laura babbled, nursing her wrist as she grabbed a towel and all but ran for her bathroom. “I’m just gonna freshen up and put a Band-Aid on this like you said and then we should probably get going, okay? Okay.”

She slammed the bathroom door behind her and groaned as she let her forehead drop against the mirror. _‘You’ve never had a thing for bad girls. Please don’t develop a thing for one who just sucked your blood.’_ She pleaded with herself.

It was probably a lost cause and Laura knew it, because part of her wanted to go back out and ask Carmilla how her blood tasted.

When she walked out a few minutes later, Carmilla had already changed and Laura felt her jaw drop a bit. The strapless, black dress hugged her body and just barely brushed the floor. It looked old and elegant, as if it had come straight from a ball in the 19th century. Given who was wearing it, that probably wasn’t even entirely unlikely.

“Glad it has your approval, Cupcake.” Carmilla chuckled as she watched Laura try to reboot her brain. The vampire’s hips swayed as she walked towards Laura and she made sure as much of their bodies brushed together as possible as she slipped by the stunned blonde. “I’m just gonna freshen up before we leave.”

The tiny journalism major didn’t breathe until she heard the bathroom door close behind her. This was going to be a long, long evening. Some part of her was sarcastically asking if Carmilla owned any clothing at all that wasn’t black, but it was pretty hard to focus on that part.

Yes, Laura had seen Carmilla naked yesterday, but sometimes things were only made more tantalizing by keeping them hidden. That was absolutely the case with Carmilla in this dress.

By the time Laura had pulled on her own dress and put her hair up into a high ponytail, Carmilla still hadn’t come out of the bathroom. While she waited, Laura divided up her time between seeing if the Tardis mug could still be used even with the crack and the broken handle and going over the information they had on Sylvester McCoy again.

What they had been able to find certainly didn’t paint the picture of a magically gifted serial killer. In fact, Chief McCoy wasn’t only a model cop but basically a model citizen in general. Born to a long line of police officers, he was credited with several high-profile arrests and cases and had developed a reputation for miraculous good luck in the face of terrible situations.

Not only that, but he made it a point not to charge for speaking on college campuses about  modern law enforcement and he frequently helped big charities organize events in the city. If he was hiding his evil, he was doing one hell of a good job.

 _‘I guess it was too much to ask for the bad guy to wear a dark robe and carry a glowing, red sword or something.’_ Laura thought. She let out an annoyed hiss when the water she’d been pouring into her mug began to rapidly seep through the crack and spilled all over the counter. “Aw man.”

“You should really just throw it away, Cupcake.” Carmilla said as she stepped out of the bathroom. “I don’t think it can be fixed.” She was wearing some light make-up, which she had obviously ‘borrowed’ from Laura.

Ignoring that for the moment, the blonde shook her head and looked at her mug sadly. “I know that. It’s just…This was my mother’s, you know?” She muttered, turning to look at Carmilla. “She was into Doctor Who way before I was. Drove my dad nuts.” A wistful smile tugged at her lips. “She was so excited when she showed me an episode and I liked it. I can’t just throw it away.”

“Oh.” Carmilla muttered as she drew closer. She glanced from Laura to the mug and back, a look of understanding in her eyes. “Ok. I get that.”

Laura wondered if Carmilla still had something that reminded her of her family. If she still had some token or trinket that had gone through three centuries with her. It felt too personal to ask though, so she broke through the heavy silence that had settled over them with a dry cough. “We should probably go. We have a party to crash.”

Carmilla let out a soft laugh. “We’ve only known each other a while and I’ve already got you crashing parties.” She smirked at Laura. “Next step, either petty theft or public indecency.”

Laura snatched up her purse and gave Carmilla a faux-haughty look as she walked to the door. “Please, I’ll have you know I’m a hardened criminal. I once stole a Snickers and only felt bad about it for three days.”

Carmilla’s grin only grew wider as she followed. “Okay, public indecency it is then. Need any help with that?”

“Oh shut up, Carmilla.”

They drove to the ludicrously fancy hotel the gala was being held at in Carmilla’s car. It was a rather quiet ride, both of them contemplating the many ways this could go wrong. When they arrived, they quickly found out which floor the event was being held on and Carmilla wasted little time teleporting them past security.

The ballroom, like the rest of the hotel, straddled the line between elegant opulence and tackiness. White marble was the material of choice for both the floor and the pillars in the corners of the room. The walls were made of a darker stone, with a large mural depicting medieval knights at war on the far wall. Large paintings were hung on the other walls and a large set of double doors led to a sizeable balcony. The centrepiece of the room, a golden chandelier, was heavily laden with some sort of glittering gems and the tables scattered along the borders of the dancefloor all held an ornate, golden candlestick.

It was surprisingly busy and the people looked no less ornate than the room in utterly gorgeous dresses and fancy suits. Some had taken to the dance floor and were moving gracefully, or not so gracefully, to the classical music playing. Others lingered at the tables, sipping champagne and making polite conversation.

Carmilla snatched them both a glass from a passing waiter and handed one to Laura. “To terrible ideas, Cupcake.” She clinked their glasses together and took a sip from the sparkling wine. “Now let’s find our man, shall we? The sooner we get this over with, the better.”

Carmilla moved confidently through the crowd, weaving around people easily as she dragged Laura along behind her. The tiny journalism major wished she had that sort of confidence. She felt incredibly out of place and underdressed next to these people.

It wasn’t long before they found the chief, but approaching him was basically out of the question. “God, it looks like the entire city is waiting to talk to him.” Laura complained, watching the crowd of people gathered around the police chief.

He was an older man with a handsome, if wrinkled face and greying blonde hair and a hint of stubble.  Unfortunately, he was also currently entertaining at least twenty people.

 _‘He’s probably not gonna be very talkative with that many people right there.’_ Laura thought, sullenly sipping her champagne. She looked up when Carmilla placed a hand on her back and found the vampire smiling mischievously at her.

“Well then, I suppose we should entertain ourselves while we wait.” She plucked the glass from Laura’s grasp and led the shorter girl to the dancefloor.

“Carmilla, no.” Laura protested, trying to keep the pale girl from tugging her on to the dancefloor and into the crowd of people who all moved far more gracefully than she ever could. “We’re here for a reason. What if someone notices we’re not supposed to be here?”

“So go talk to him.” Carmilla challenged and jerked her head in the direction of the chief. When Laura nervously bit her lip, she grinned smugly. “That’s what I thought.” She tugged Laura on to the dancefloor. “Cupcake, you look gorgeous. Nobody is gonna notice that we aren’t supposed to be here as long as you relax. All we can do right now is wait anyway.”

Blushing at the compliment, Laura looked at the floor. Carmilla did have a point, honestly. At the very least they would look more like they belonged if they danced than if they just hung around a table all night. There was just one problem with that, though. “Carmilla, they’re waltzing. I don’t know how to waltz.” She admitted.

The vampire let out a hiss through her teeth, amusement shining her eyes. “And God knows you’re not exactly coordinated.” She stepped closer and nudged Laura’s head back up. “Thankfully for you, I do know how. Waltzing was my favourite dance, back during my rebellious noble lady period.”

The tiny blonde bit back a laugh and arched a brow. “Did you just use the words rebellious and waltzing in the same sentence?” She asked.

“Of course. Are you doubting me?” Carmilla asked, hand over her heart and an expression of exaggerated shock on her face. “See, it was all considered a bit questionable due to all the whirling and the fluent movement but mostly it was scandalous because partners were face to face and chest to chest.” Carmilla took Laura’s hand and the other went around the blonde’s waist and tugged them close together.

The tiny journalism major had to bite back a gasp. Up close like this, it was utterly impossible to deny just how unfairly gorgeous Carmilla was. Not to mention that their curves fit together so well and Carmilla smelled like cherries and smoke. She couldn’t think of anything to say, or get herself to move back.

She didn’t want to, if she was perfectly honest.

Carmilla seemed just as stuck as Laura was for a moment, looking down at her in silence. Suddenly she cleared her throat. “Anyway, the waltz is probably not great as a start to your education, but just follow my lead, okay?”

Laura clung to her partner a tad too tightly as she stumbled her way through the first few steps with the vampire’s silent guidance. Carmilla turned out to be a pretty patient teacher, only making one or two mocking jokes when Laura stepped on her toes.

Still, the blonde got the hang of it soon enough and managed to reduce her stumbling to every few steps rather than every other step. When Carmilla spun them both around, Laura couldn’t help but notice a few people looking at them. “Carm, people are looking.” She whispered, her body tensing under the attention.

Almost immediately Carmilla’s thumb began swiping up and down the bare portion of her back comfortingly. “Don’t mind them, Cupcake. They’re just watching two pretty women dance.” She gave Laura an encouraging and strangely shy smile. “You’re getting it. Just focus on me, okay?”

Focusing on Carmilla really just created a whole different problem. Focusing on Carmilla meant focusing on her unguarded expression, on the smooth expanse of her neck and on those crimson lips that had no business looking that appealing. It made her want to do things that were…unwise at best.

“Thank you, Carmilla.” She muttered shyly. “For coming with me. For protecting me.” She squeezed the older girl’s hand and gave her a sincere look of gratitude. “I know it’s because something is making you and you’re not doing it for me but-”

“Don’t be stupid.” Carmilla cut her off, though not unkindly. “Yes, I have to do it, but that doesn’t mean I’m not doing it for you.”

Laura looked down, unable to bring herself to look Carmilla in the eye. That was too much to do for one person. It was too much to do just for little Laura Hollis. It made her feel warm and yet it made her terribly nervous, because what if something happened to Carmilla during all of this?

She didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of her.

Their mission went forgotten for a bit as they shared dance after dance in their little corner of the dancefloor. At some point of the evening, her head had come to rest on Carmilla’s shoulder and she hardly felt inclined to move it. Each time Carmilla ducked her head to whisper something to her, the older girl’s nose brushed her forehead and Laura felt her heart skip a beat.

This was really, really stupid and it wasn’t helping with what was rapidly becoming the worst crush ever, but she was warm and Carmilla felt great pressed against her and honestly what did she care about anything right now?

The spell was finally broken when Carmilla stopped and gently nudged Laura. “Cupcake, the chief’s not totally surrounded by high-society suck-ups for once.” She said.

For a moment Laura only wondered if Carmilla’s voice had always been that husky but then the words sank in and she reluctantly pulled away. “Oh. Oh, you’re right, crap.” She shook her head as if to rid herself of the lingering effects of Carmilla’s touch and took a deep breath.

When she looked at Carmilla again, she found the vampire was pale even by her normal standards and looking a little haggard. “Are you okay?” She asked worriedly.

“I’m fine, Cupcake.” Carmilla muttered in a tone that very much indicated the opposite. “It’s just that I’m still really hungry and there’s a lot of people here.” She added, her eyes darting  back and forth to track the people on the dance floor like a cat tracks a mouse.

Well, now she at least had motivation to get things done quickly. The faster they got Carmilla out of here, the more comfortable it would be for the vampire. “Here goes nothing then.” She declared with far more confidence than she actually had.

She took Carmilla’s hand and dragged the vampire over to the police chief with her best determined face on. “Mister McCoy, could I have just a moment of your time?” She asked.

The police chief’s small, dark eyes scrutinized them both for a moment before he smiled at the two of them. “Of course, ma’am. Forgive me, you have me at a disadvantage.” He said.

Laura extended a hand. “I’m Anna…” She quickly glanced at an utterly unhelpful Carmilla. “Black. Anna Black. I write for…the Summer sisters.” When McCoy gave her a confused look, she quickly continued pulling stuff out of her ass. “It’s a website focused on…mainly feminist issues and female empowerment. That sort of stuff, you know?”

The chief’s body language immediately became a bit more professional when he realized he was dealing with a reporter, though his smile remained kind and patient. “I see. Forgive me, web journalism has come a long way in a short time and I’m not always up-to-date.” He shook her hand and gave her an apologetic look. “I’m afraid our spokesman isn’t here tonight, though. If you have questions you can contact the station and he’ll call you back when he has a chance.”

 _‘Crap!’_ Laura knew she couldn’t let him off with just that. “I’m sorry sir but I’ve done that. Four times in fact.” She quickly lied. “I was really hoping to get some answers to a few simple questions at last.”

Chief McCoy frowned at that. “Did you? I’m sorry to hear that.” He rubbed his chin and looked thoughtfully at the crowd. “We really do try to get back to the press as soon as possible.”

“Well, you haven’t managed it this time.” Carmilla cut in, pointing at Laura. “And you don’t want to see what this one gets like when people don’t answer her questions. That’s five feet of indignation right there.”

McCoy let out a bark of laughter when Laura glared at the taller girl. “Ha, I can imagine.” He extended a hand to Carmilla. “Forgive me, I didn’t ask for your name. Are you here with Miss Black?”

“Yes, she’s my friend.” Laura said.

“Yes, she said she needed arm candy.” Carmilla said at the same time with a shit-eating grin.

Wide-eyed and  blushing, Laura robotically turned to the smug vampire. After a few seconds of stammering, she smacked Carmilla on the arm while the chief of police laughed at them. “What my friend here means,” Laura ground out through clenched teeth  “is that I invited her after our camera woman cancelled. I cleared it with the organizers first.”

Chief McCoy made a thoughtful noise and smiled at them. “Well, as long as it was fine with them it’s fine with me.” He looked at his watch. “I think I can give you a few minutes, Miss Black. What did you want to ask?”

“Great!” Laura cheered. She quickly pulled a small notepad and pen from her purse and flipped it open as she fired off her first question. “So in a recent press briefing on the case of the missing young women, it was stated that a kitchen knife was found in the latest victim’s car, correct?”

“Yes.” McCoy was the very picture of professionalism now, with his hands folded behind his back and his face carefully neutral. “Such a weapon was indeed recovered from the scene.”

“And it was confirmed to be covered in blood, yes?” Laura continued. “However, the briefing didn’t state if this was the victim’s blood or her attacker’s.”

“We’ve concluded that the blood on the blade does not belong to the victim.” McCoy answered, speaking slowly and choosing his words carefully. “However, as we have nothing to compare the blood to, we cannot currently say if it does indeed belong to her attacker.”

 _‘Because SJ obviously stabbed someone else before she vanished?’_ Laura thought sarcastically. She tried to keep her expression neutral and nodded before she continued to her next question. “So the weapon is still evidence?”

“Yes, it’s stored at the station with the other relevant items.”

Laura nodded as a sense of relief came over her. They had the information they needed. Now she just needed to find a natural way to end this. “Okay, so excuse me but I’m gonna back up a few steps and ask about the other girls.”

She asked a few more questions to at least make it seem like a complete interview, but just as she was wrapping up and preparing to leave she heard someone speak up behind her. “Dad, they’re looking for you for a photo opportuni-Oh, hello Miss Hollis. I must admit I wasn’t expecting you here.”

Laura could feel her very soul cringe when detective McCoy walked up next to his father and gave both her and Carmilla a baffled look. “And Miss…Karnstein, yes? I really wasn’t expecting you either.”

“Alexander, do you know these young ladies?” The chief asked, a frown wrinkling his brow as he looked from his son to Laura and Carmilla.

“Eh, yes.” The detective said, still confused. “Miss Hollis is the one who found the car of our latest missing person case. Miss Karnstein was her ride at the time, I believe.”

A heavy silence settled over them while the chief of police frowned at the two girls and his son kept giving the three of them confused looks.

“Ehm, sorry?” Laura said, trying to appear as young and innocent as she possibly could. If it worked on her dad it was bound to work on other people, right? “It’s just that SJ was my friend and I’m a journalism major so I’m naturally nosy and I have a project for my class that’s based around this whole thing and-yeah.”

A look of realization passed over Alexander McCoy’s face and he burst into laughter. “Wait, did you two sneak in?” He asked, before turning to his father. “Oh come on, you’ve gotta give them credit for that one.”

The chief was clearly less amused. “Well, it certainly seems Miss Hollis will be a frightfully effective journalist in the future.” He said, sharp eyes boring into the blonde. “However, I hope you will employ more honest means in the future.”

“Eh, yes sir.” Laura muttered, feeling very small. “Sorry, sir.”

The chief sighed and turned to the detective. “Alexander, could you-woah!”

Suddenly Carmilla stumbled and fell into the chief, clutching at his arm before she could hit the ground. The older man quickly helped her to her feet and Carmilla gave him such an innocent and guilty expression that even Laura would have believed it. “Oh no, I’m so sorry! I’m a little anaemic. I should have taken better care.”

Laura had to repress a snort at the idea of an anaemic vampire.

“Oh crap, did I scratch you? I’m so sorry.” Carmilla took the chief’s wrist and exposed a bleeding scratch on it. “Here, let me just…” She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and dabbed at the scratch a few times before the chief gently pulled his arm back.

“That’s quite alright, young lady. No harm done.” He assured her, folding his hands behind his back as Carmilla pocketed the bloody handkerchief with a wink at Laura. “I’m afraid that I will have to have you both escorted out now, though. Alexander, if you would?”

“No problem.” The younger McCoy said, gesturing towards the door. “Ladies, shall we?”

He walked them both to the front door of the hotel, still chuckling softly. “I didn’t think we’d have that kind of entertainment tonight, ladies.” He shot Laura a smile. “Don’t worry about dad. He’s a letter of the law person, you know?”

“And you’re not?” Laura asked.

The detective pondered his answer for a moment. “Well…not entirely. We just don’t see eye to eye on crime I suppose. He thinks it can be treated and I think it’s our job to remove it entirely.” He shrugged. “It’s not gotten in the way of work yet, though.”

As they walked outside, he placed a hand on Laura’s shoulder. “Miss Hollis, I hope you’ll stay out of this case a bit from now on.” He gave her a very serious look. “I’m sure you understand that it’s not safe to involve yourself.”

“I won’t, don’t worry.” Laura lied with her best innocent smile.

The detective looked at her for a few more moments and then chuckled and turned his attention to Carmilla. “Well, I’m certain Miss Karnstein can keep you out of trouble.”

Carmilla shot him a challenging look. “I don’t know, I’ve always been more of a ‘do not’ example.”

With a chuckle the detective wished them both goodnight and the girls climbed into Carmilla’s car. “So that didn’t go according to plan.” Laura sighed the moment she shut the door. They had been so close to getting away cleanly too.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Carmilla chuckled as she started the engine and began the trip back to Laura’s dorm. “We got the information we needed and I’ve even got the chief’s blood on my handkerchief. The science ginger can probably do something with that, right?”

Laura nodded. If there was one thing they were certain of, it was that Lafontaine could do just about anything as long as science was involved. “All we need now is to get the knife.”

“From an evidence room. At a police station. One filled with mages who want you dead. Great.”  Carmilla drawled, giving Laura some seriously sarcastic side-eye.

“Well phrasing it like that can make anything seem suicidal.” The journalism major pouted.

Once they made it back to Laura’s room, Carmilla kicked off her heels and plopped down on Laura’s bed while the blonde sent Lafontaine a text with the results of their mission.

With the text sent, she turned to her bed and  gave Carmilla a concerned look. The vampire seemed utterly exhausted and she was looking down at her lap, holding very still. “Carmilla? Are you okay?”

The vampire’s head rose slowly and Laura gasped when glazed, black eyes locked on her own. “You know…I think I’m not.” Carmilla rose and backed Laura into a corner. “I think I’m really not, Cupcake.” She crooned as she crowded into Laura’s personal space and pinned her against the wall.

While the blonde tried to convince herself that she wasn’t turned on, she gently tried to push against the vampire’s shoulders when Carmilla ran her nose along her neck and let out a hungry moan. “You’ve no idea how you taste, Cupcake.”

“Do…Do you…” Laura swallowed twice and tried to get her dry mouth to actually form words. “Do you need more?”

Carmilla froze, trembling against Laura, before she suddenly pulled back just a bit. “No…No…I can…No.” Her eyes were less glazed now, but Laura almost wished they weren’t because she could see that it almost physically pained the vampire.

“Oh for Dumbledore’s sake. _Here._ ” She tilted her head to the side and bared her neck, even though it felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. When Carmilla only whimpered but didn’t move, she rolled her eyes and cupped the back of her head to drag the pale girl into her neck. “Carmilla, don’t be an idiot.”

The vampire still hesitated for a second, but soft lips were working against Laura’s neck made it clear that it was a losing battle. The pale girl muttered something that could have been an apology before Laura once again experienced that blinding pain as her fangs sank in.

It was so much more intense this time, but the pain was also brief and the warmth quickly replaced it and spread throughout her body. Carmilla’s soft, hungry noises only made it worse and Laura felt dizzy and floaty as the dark-haired beauty drank from her.

Before long, she was clinging to the vampire because her knees had given out and mewling softly in her ear. Much as she wanted to pretend it didn’t, being bitten felt really, really good. This was far more intimate than just offering Carmilla her wrist and she could feel the vampire purring as she fed. Not only that, but each time Carmilla’s tongue darted out to trace stray drops of blood it sent another wave of pleasure through her body.

It didn’t help that Carmilla’s hands had slipped under her dress and were now holding Laura by her bare thighs. It would’ve taken such little effort to grind herself against the body between her legs just to ease the desperate need for touch. For friction. For _anything._

Finally Carmilla’s sense won out over her hunger. Laura gasped when the vampire pulled back and the fangs slid from her neck. Both panting for air, they looked at each other in uncertain silence.

Honestly, Laura wasn’t sure whether to curse or thank her friends when the door burst open and Lafontaine marched in. “Hey, I heard you guys were hoookaaay, nevermind! We’ll be back later.” They shoved Perry back before they could enter the room and slammed the door shut.

“Lafontaine!”

“Perr, trust me, you don’t want to see that! Is there such a thing as eye bleach?”

With a groan, Laura’s head dropped to Carmilla’s shoulder. Part of her really, really wanted this to continue. Preferably on a bed and with less clothing.

Thankfully however, the rest of her remembered that she barely knew Carmilla and that her friends had just walked in on something that was going to be almost impossible to explain and she could never look at anyone ever again and would have to die of humiliation in this dorm room.

Carmilla, on the other hand, only seemed to find the whole thing funny. She was chuckling softly, her once again normal eyes shining with amusement. “Think I should go ask if they want to provide desert?” She asked, licking the remnants of Laura’s blood from her lips.

Laura weakly slapped her arm and tilted her head so she could glare at Carmilla. “This isn’t funny. And would you put me down already?! Your time with the human juice box is over!”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was that then, Creampuffs?
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the smutty note near the beginning there, because it’s the last one we’ll see in this story for a bit. 
> 
> At least that’s the plan.
> 
> Anyway, like I said in the notes above I need your help, Creampuffs! Oh, and I have an announcement!
> 
> Actually let’s start with the latter. Ahem, I am on Tumblr, Creampuffs! You can find me at http://sirprizex.tumblr.com/! Come say hi! Or ask questions! Or pledge your undying loyalty while I plunge the earth into a an age of eternal darkness!
> 
> After relentless badgering from a friend I caved and made an account to get him off my back, only to realize I already one which I’d totally forgotten about. I’m still not using it all that much, but that’s at least in part because I’ve been kind of busy lately.
> 
> As for needing your help, I’m sure at least some of you are aware that the next Carmila Week (Previously known as 7 days of Carmilla) is coming up. 
> 
> I’ve been writing short stories for the prompts so that I could have them ready for release, as I’m on vacation during that time, but I ran into a problem.
> 
> I sort of want to punch the person who made 1980 one of the prompts, because I have absolutely nothing.
> 
> No, really, nothing. Not a thing. Zip, zilch, nada. Put a gun to my head and I couldn’t give you a decent story idea based on this prompt level nothing.  
> If you have any ideas you don’t mind me using, please let me know. It’s the only prompt I can’t work with and it’s driving me crazy. 
> 
> So to recap, I’m now on Tumblr, I need your help, I hope you enjoyed reading and I’m in dire need of sleep.
> 
> Later, Creampuffs!


	8. En Français (Et Néerlandais)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so it took a lot longer than expected, but we have a new chapter!
> 
> *Insert parade and ludicrous amount of confetti*
> 
> But really, sorry to keep you waiting, guys. Life got in the way a bit and it became a bit of a challenge finding time to write as well as inspiration and having both at the same time. Also, I found an emulator that runs Breath of the Wild and that kinda distracted me for...quite a while. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you guys so much for being patient [stopping in on Tumblr](http://sirprizex.tumblr.com/) and of course leaving comments and kudos! It really helps to see that people enjoy what I've written when I'm stuck or can't get into the right mindset.
> 
> This chapter is a bit shorter than the last one and a bit more relaxed, since I wanted a bit of time for the characters to catch their breath and for our little reporter and useless vampire to spend some quiet time together without one of them pretending to be a cat. They'll have plenty to do next chapter, after all. 
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

Laura hissed in pain and tried to jerk away from Perry and her fluffy, faintly moist instrument of torture. “Ow! Perry, if you want this nursing thing to succeed you may want to work on your bedside-ow! Fuuuuuu-dge.”

Perry took the flinching and the whining  in stride, glaring at the puncture marks on Laura’s neck as she dabbed at them with a rubbing alcohol-soaked cotton ball. “I don’t want to hear it Laura. Especially since your best idea was a Band-Aid.” She snapped huffily. “Which wouldn’t be necessary if you made better life choices and didn’t offer yourself up for a vampire bite.” She pressed the ball against one of the wounds very, very gently despite her annoyed tone. “I swear, who knows what sort of bacterial infections you could have gotten from that?”

“Hey!” Carmilla looked up with an offended frown from the cocoa she was making at the counter.

Perry’s outrage faltered for a moment and she offered the vampire a sheepish look. “Carmilla, despite that grungy look you’re going for I have no doubt that your personal hygiene is impeccable. However, dear, you are technically speaking, dead.”

Laura bit back a smile as Carmilla eyed the bushy-haired girl for a moment before she rolled her eyes and turned back to the cocoa, muttering about the most backhanded compliment she’d received in decades.

Her amusement was short-lived when Lafontaine snorted, though. The ginger scientist had been banished to the corner by their…whatever Perry was to them when they asked if they could swab the bite wounds for samples. “Maybe you should get Carmilla to hold her still, Perr. Laura seems fine with pain so long as Carmilla’s pinning her to the-”

Perry spun around in her chair and pointed a finger threateningly at her fellow redhead. “You hush! Laura is still a far better patient than you, even if she’s being a baby about some mild stinging.”

“Hey!” Laura yelped. She crossed her arms and glared at her friends. “Mild stinging? I’m pretty sure the mages enchanted that stuff to burn more, just to annoy me.”

“At least Laura hasn’t tried to hide chemical burns from me just to see how they affected human skin.” Perry continued, giving no indication that she’d heard the protest at all.

“I was just…trying to find a way to make it easier for you to patch me up?” Lafontaine tried with a hopeful smile, which faltered and quickly turned to a nervous pout when it was met with a seriously unamused glare. “No? Okay, I’m just gonna…” They gestured at the door. “Y’know, check on the blood test. Very important. Should keep an eye on that.”

As Lafontaine fled the room, Laura saw a chance to escape as well. “Ah, right, actually I should ask them about something.” She began to rise, but was tugged back into her seat with surprising ease by her red-haired nurse.

“Did I say we were done?” Perry asked the blonde with a smile that was as terrifying as it was sweet and innocent.

“…No.” She answered despondently, feeling very much like a child being chastised by her mother.

Carmilla chuckled softly and put a mug down next to Laura on her nightstand. “Well, if you can manage not to get attacked for five minutes, I’m going home and changing.” She said, looking at a spot on the wall next to Laura’s head.

After the weirdly intimate moment last night, which they still hadn’t talked about, Laura couldn’t really bring herself to face the vampire either. “Okay, see you in a bit?” She hated the tone of uncertainty in her voice.

Carmilla seemed a little surprised and then gave her a small, unguarded smile. “Give me a few minutes, Cupcake.” She reached out and tousled the shorter girl’s hair, dragging her nails over Laura’s scalp in a way that sent a pleasant shiver down her spine. “Since you appreciate my ass so much, I might as well find the right pair of leather pants to squeeze it into.”

The husky purr of Carmilla’s voice made even Perry blush, though Laura’s face easily burned brighter. Before she could do much but stare dumbly at the other girl though, Carmilla vanished in a burst of black smoke. Laura couldn’t help but feel robbed for reasons she really didn’t want to dive into as she watched it fade away.

“So…” Perry coughed to fill the sudden silence and Laura nearly jumped out of her skin. “I see you and Carmilla are getting along.” Her brow furrowed as she began to pack her first aid kit away. “Very well, actually.”

“So I’m not crazy, right? She was flirting with me?” Laura asked with perhaps a bit too much zeal, given how Perry’s eyebrows shot up. “I mean, I guess it could be because she’s finally gotten to feed and all but she’s been really nice to me all morning by Carmilla standards which basically just means she hasn’t spent her every waking moment glaring at me but she won’t look at me at all and now she’s made me cocoa and...”

Perry raised a finger, her movement’s sharp and jerky and her expression overwhelmed. “Shush!” When Laura fell silent, the redhead let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, Laura, but that was a lot of information all at once.” She ignored the mumbled apology and continued packing away her things.

“I just…” Laura sighed and ran a hand through her hair. The other hand flapped around wildly as she searched for a way to put the feelings that were messing with her head and stomach. She only stopped when Perry grabbed the flailing limb and offered her a pitying smile.

“Do you want her to flirt with you?” She asked as big, worried eyes looked up at her.

“I don’t _know_.” Laura groaned, shaking her head and cradling the mug of cocoa to her chest. She was almost scared to drink it now. “I really don’t. I mean, I know she’s just putting up with me until she no longer has to protect me, but then she goes and does stuff like this or she helps with the investigation and this dumb little part of me gets its hopes up.”

Perry didn’t say anything. She snapped the first aid kit shut and just took Laura’s expression in quietly. After a few minutes, she ducked her head and let out a soft sigh.

“You think I’m an idiot, huh?” Laura muttered with a dry chuckle. She really couldn’t blame Perry. “I nearly died at least twice and here I am developing a crush. On a vampire, no less.”

“Oh, honey, no.” Perry cooed, her eyes widening with guilt. “That’s not what I thought at all.” She put a hand on Laura’s knee and waited until the short journalism major looked her in the eye again. “I agree that the timing is…less than perfect, but we can’t control these things.”

Laura gave her friend a weak smile and just let herself flop backwards on to her bed. “God, I wish we could.” She huffed, crossing her arms. “Life would be so much easier.”

Perry laughed and smoothed out Laura’s duvet before she daintily sat down next to her. “Probably a bit boring too.” She said, before they lapsed into a comfortable silence. When the redhead finally spoke again, Laura had to bite back a smile at the familiar motherly expression on Perry’s face. “Laura, I just want you to be careful with your heart. Carmilla _is_ mainly here because she has to be.”

“I know, Perr.” Laura interrupted, brows knitted together. “Once all of this dies down, Carmilla’s probably going to vanish into the night to defile virgins or something.” Bitterness clung heavily to her words. “It’s not like we really know each other.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. You two talked when she came by the diner, right?” Perry mused. “I know she didn’t tell you about the whole vampire thing but can you blame her? That’s pretty crazy, Laura.”

“I guess.” Laura muttered with a pout.

“Besides, have you even really talked about it since then?” Perry continued with  a small smile, nudging Laura. “I’m not sure she’s going to go over the entire 300 plus years with you, but she did make you cocoa.” She pointedly looked down at the steaming liquid. “And it’s not like she goes out of her way to be nice to people. I think that means she’ll at least tell you the highlights.”

Resisting the urge to cradle the cup to her chest, Laura smiled at the redhead. “Thanks, Perr.” She sighed and took a sip. “Still, I can worry about flirting with Carmilla later.” She honestly felt a little guilty that she had been so concerned with this in the first place. They had more important things to do.

Perry tutted as she stood up. “You also have a French literature test in less than a week, Laura. Have you even begun to study for that?”

Brown eyes darted guiltily to a pristine, unopened textbook on her desk before they darted back to Perry. “Of course.” Laura lied unconvincingly.

The frown that brought to Perry’s face was a fearsome thing indeed. “Okay, I’m going to make sure Lafontaine hasn’t blown up any research equipment. When I get back, you had better tell me how you plan to balance this investigation and your schoolwork, Missy.” She pointed two fingers at her own eyes and then at Laura before she stormed off with a huff.

As she sheepishly picked up her book, Laura made a mental note to make sure Perry never, ever met her dad. She was only a few pages into the book and already nearly falling asleep out of pure boredom when Carmilla appeared in the room once more in a cloud of black smoke.

“Hey again, Cupcake.” The vampire drawled, dropping a black duffel bag at her feet in the middle of the room. She had put on a red plaid shirt and, as promised, a pair of sinfully tight leather jeans which Laura made a concerted effort not to stare at. “I see you got rid of the ginger twins. Good for you.”

Laura rolled her eyes and reluctantly turned back to her book. “Laf’s checking on the blood. Perry’s making sure they don’t somehow blow the place up while doing that.” She turned the page and almost groaned. Who honestly cared whether or not Madame Bovary could be considered feminist or not when it was the story of an awful, awful woman?

Either ignoring her boredom or utterly unbothered by it, Carmilla grunted in reply and fished a book of her own out of her bag. “Well, I don’t really care why they’re not here. I’m just happy I don’t have to wear sunglasses indoors to protect myself from all of the ginger now.”

The vampire sank down on the bed and arched a brow at Laura. “So, what’s next?” She asked expectantly. “Thrilling raid on the police station? Research into vile magics?” Her expression soured slightly. “Please don’t tell me the plan is a Doctor Who marathon, Cupcake, because I swear to God I will transform into a cat and shred something precious of yours.”

“You’ve already ruined my most comfortable bra.” Laura grumbled into her profoundly boring textbook. “What’s got you so chipper anyway?” Carmilla’s presence alone so shortly after their…situation last night made her feel distracted and anxious already. This sudden reversal of their attitudes was not helping matters.

Carmilla chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Excuse me if I’m a bit more energetic than I was last night while I was starving, Sundance.” As Laura tensed, Carmilla’s expression faltered a bit and an awkward silence followed.

Laura stared at her book, not even really registering the words on the page anymore. Some part of her knew they probably had to talk about last night. Every time she tried though, another part of herself reminded Laura of the possessive way Carmilla had held her and the keening noise Laura had made. Burrowing under the covers and refusing to come out until she felt less mortified seemed so much better than having that conversation.

Still, she had to say _something._

“So, Carmilla…”

“Cupcake, about last night…”

They spoke simultaneously and shot each other matching, sheepish grins when they both stopped abruptly to let the other speak. “Why don’t you go first?” Laura offered.

Carmilla nodded. “Well, about last night…” She began, rubbing the back of her head. “I…wanted to thank you, Cupcake. And I wanted to apologize.” She tried to maintain eye contact, but eventually her eyes darted guiltily down to the bedspread. “I should have planned so I didn’t run out of blood. So…y’know…sorry for using you as a juice box, especially since I’m supposed to be protecting you.”

Laura couldn’t help the twinge of sympathy she felt as she looked at Carmilla. She had never seen the older girl looking genuinely contrite. “Carmilla, I offered.” She reminded her gently, reaching out to touch Carmilla on the knee. “It’s fine.”

“You shouldn’t have to offer.” Carmilla muttered stubbornly.

“Well, I did.” The honey-blonde journalism major countered with a roll of her eyes. “It was hardly the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, Carmilla.” She felt her cheeks heat up and Carmilla seemed to shift in place a bit, a very small smile tugging at her lips. “What’s a little biting between friends, right?” Laura asked, squeezing Carmilla’s knee.

The older girl’s eyes darted back up, widened by surprise. “Friends?”

“I…well, yeah…” Laura muttered as she awkwardly played with her hair. “At least, I was hoping we could be. I know you’re mainly here because you have to be, but-”.

“Don’t be stupid.” Carmilla interrupted brusquely. “I’m not _just_ here because of that. Of course I’m sticking around for you.”

“Oh.” If she was faintly pink before, Laura was full on fire truck red now. There was a strange tightness in her chest, as if she couldn’t breathe deeply enough with the way her heart was swelling, and she just knew there was a goofy smile on her face. Obviously it was just something Carmilla said in an effort to be nice, but Laura could still appreciate it. “So, friends, then. And like I said, what’s wrong with a bit of biting between friends? I mean, I probably taste way too sweet what with all of the processed sugar and all.” She paused and her brow furrowed as she pondered that. “Wait, is that actually a thing? How do I taste?”

Carmilla eyed her strangely for a moment, lost in thought, before she absently licked her lips.

_‘Holy mother of Dumbledore.’_ Laura thought, all of her attention suddenly focussed on those lips. At the very least her face wasn’t the only thing that felt hot now.

“You really shouldn’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to, Cupcake.” Carmilla voice was husky, but her eyes were wide and nervous.

Laura felt her heartbeat speed up as the vampire’s voice seemed to echo in her head. She had to clear her throat twice before she could form words. “What? Are we talking day-old McDonalds level bad?” She asked, trying to keep her tone light rather than breathless.

“You taste good, Laura.” Carmilla’s hand twitched as she spoke and her pinkie just barely brushed against Laura’s hand where it rested on the pale girl’s knee. Even that little touch seemed to send a spark up Laura’s arm.  “I think it’s best for our sanity if I don’t elaborate.”

Laura was dimly aware that they were both a lot closer than when they started. “That’s eh…” The words stuck in her throat. What did you say to that anyway? That’s nice? With a herculean effort she pulled back and took a deep breath. It always felt like she couldn’t breathe right around Carmilla, which would be an explanation for why she felt dizzy around her.

An explanation Laura was more comfortable with than any involving feelings, at least.

For just a moment, she saw her own confusion and disappointment reflected in Carmilla’s eyes. It was gone so quickly that Laura wondered if she was just subconsciously projecting on to her undead friend.

Carmilla ran a hand through her long hair and muttered something to herself. “So, I never got an answer. What are we doing?” She asked, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the headrest. “Or have you finally remembered that you are in fact expected to do schoolwork in school?”

Laura made a face at her French literature textbook. “Yeah, totally decided to do this all on my own initiative…when Perry all but threatened me.” She listlessly turned a few pages, before an idea struck her. She was in the same room as a supernatural creature capable of what was essentially teleportation. “However, now that you’re here-”

“Stop right there, Creampuff.”  Carmilla cut in with a raised eyebrow. “I’m not your supernatural chauffeur. Especially not if you’re just using me to avoid…” she picked up the book in the shorter girl’s lap and peeked at the cover “…French lit, apparently.”

“Oh come on, we have more important things to do.” Laura argued, pouting. Surely the fact that several girls were in most likely mortal peril was more important? Laura could totally do a bit more to help them and then study for her test later.

Carmilla didn’t seem convinced as she kicked off her boots and pulled her legs up on to the bed. “Okay, we’ll go if you can answer this one question.” She mumbled inaudibly to herself as she scanned the page the book was open on. “Ah, here we go. What are the major themes of Madame Bovary?”

Laura tried not to flinch, hoping she could at least guess her way through. “Eh, family, the repercussions of lying and…I dunno, cheating on your spouse?” She slumped when Carmilla looked at her over the book almost pityingly.”

“Yeah, you’re gonna ace that test, Cupcake.” The vampire drawled as she tossed the book back. “I can’t wait for your insightful paper on the importance of being really, really sad in Les Misérables.”

Laura felt the brief urge to protest the rough treatment of her textbook as it bounced off of her lap and on to the floor. _‘Then again, it’s not like I’m super fond of it.’_ She thought as she scooped it up. “Carm, come on. There are people in actual danger and I could be doing something to help them.”

Carmilla rolled her eyes. “Cupcake, right now the only plan you, the ginger on the verge of a nervous breakdown and the other ginger with the startling disrespect for basic self-preservation have managed to come up with is to steal a knife.” The derision coating her words hung in the air between them like a cloud of smog, thick and heavy. “From the police. Who keep it in their evidence room.”

Laura groaned and slumped against the wall, arms crossed petulantly. “Well, if you put it like that you can make anything sound suicidal.” She muttered, willing to accept that Carmilla had a point but certainly _not_ willing to admit that to the vampire. “I just feel…like I should be doing more, you know?”

It was a strange feeling that had been swirling in her chest the past few days. Whenever things quieted down, Laura felt like she wasn’t doing enough. Like she wasn’t working hard enough to get the missing girls back. She was Laura freaking Hollis, after all. She could and would get to the bottom of this, supernatural involvement or not.

 And yet, a tiny part of the honey-blonde girl was relieved when they weren’t making any progress, because maybe people would give up on trying to kill them in that case. She had decided early on that being a proper journalist meant following the story, even if it was hard or dangerous.

Then again, nobody had mentioned the possibility of homicidal mages, so she felt justified in being a bit rattled to put it mildly. Still, any time she wished she had never looked into the disappearances, it was soon followed by a wave of guilt. Clearly nobody else was putting in the effort to save these girls. What would happen if even Laura gave up?

She was brought out of her brooding when Carmilla nudged her and nodded at Laura’s book, brow raised expectantly. “Tell you what, we’ll tackle a quarter of what you need to study. If you can answer my questions well enough, we’ll do whatever you want afterwards.”

That certainly got her attention. Laura squinted at the vampire, trying to find a catch. Well, a catch that wasn’t the sense of almost profound boredom that came with studying French literature. “I’ve got a better idea. We go chapter by chapter and if I get more than half of your questions right, I get to ask you something about your life.”

A guarded look spread over Carmilla’s face. “I’m not sure that’s something you want to know, Cupcake.” She said.

“Oh come on.” Laura pleaded, getting into the idea now. This was the perfect way to actually get to know Carmilla. The real, over three centuries old Carmilla. “You get to ask me stuff if I get questions wrong.” She sang, hoping to entice the older girl. “Come on, if we’re going to be friends we should really know more about each other.”

“I’ve always found I like people better the less I know about them.” The pale girl argued, but Laura could see the corners of her mouth twitch. “Besides, how interesting could little Laura’s life have been? Well, _littler_ Laura, I suppose. What, did you steal cookies from the jar?”

“Well, I never.” Laura gasped and put a hand over her heart as she feigned offence. “First of all, you are _not_ that much taller than me.” Okay, so maybe she actually was a bit offended at that part. “Secondly, I’ll have you know I was super interesting. Still am, actually. Did you know I was almost expelled from middle school because I exposed the principal’s embezzlement?”

Carmilla actually sat up a little straighter, eyes shining with curiosity. “Wait, what?” She leaned in a little with a wide grin. “How the hell did you manage that, Lauronica Mars?”

With a haughty huff, Laura turned away. “I guess you’ll never know.” She said as she picked up her book once more. Partially because she actually needed to study, but mostly because it was a good way to hide from Carmilla while she waited the vampire out.

After a few minutes, Carmilla let out a huff that sounded a lot like ‘what am I doing?’ Suddenly, a hand pulled Laura’s textbook down and she found herself face-to-face with an exasperated Carmilla. “Fine, Creampuff, I’ll play the damn game.”

Laura let out a triumphant cheer, which died quickly when she found herself on the receiving end of a sharp glare. “Eh, right, great.” She muttered, quickly turning to her book again. “Well, I’m going to study this chapter. You just…I don’t know…sit there and brood. You’re good at that.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Carmilla did not do what Laura had asked by just sitting there and brooding. In fact, the young wannabe journalist soon learned that the vampire was downright distracting to have around while studying.

She shifted noisily on the bed. She sighed in distaste at Laura’s book collection. She found ways to curl up or stretch out on the bed that saw her shirt baring part of her neck or her stomach and that just did nothing at all good for keeping Laura’s mind on the task at hand.

And the few times she wasn’t being a nuisance, Carmilla stared at Laura’s neck absently.

Frankly, that was maybe the most distracting thing of all. The third time it happened, L aura almost wondered if Carmilla wanted a refill or something, but that just brought to mind the memory of sharp fangs, soft lips and possessive hands and how much she’d wanted all of them far south of her neck.

Well, maybe not the fangs.

Laura cleared her throat, trying to seem casual despite the blush lighting up her cheeks. “You alright, Carmilla?”

“I’m good, Cupcake.” She answered, neither moving nor blinking.

A pleasant shiver went up Laura’s spine at the husky purr that left Carmilla’s lips. “O-okay. Good.” She squeaked, the pages wrinkling in her grasp. “Just checking.”

Despite the distractions, Laura soon felt ready to be quizzed and let Carmilla rattle off a few questions based on the chapter. It didn’t go perfectly, but she just barely earned herself her first question.

Then came the next chapter and another question. And another chapter, which went terribly. Laura pouted, while Carmilla closed the book with a snap. “I believe that means I get to ask you something, Cupcake.”

“Fine, fine, go ahead.” Laura drawled, cheek resting on her palm. “Please be gentle in punishing my ignorance.” Honestly, she couldn’t feel quite as annoyed as she perhaps should have been. This was almost nice. At least it was helping her get to know Carmilla, vampiric background and all.

The dark-haired girl smirked at Laura. “Don’t worry, I’ll take it easy on you. I just want to know how you almost got expelled from middle school.” She said, as she handed Laura her book back. Cruelly, she waited until the shorter girl was drinking her cocoa before she continued. “I figured questions about your experience with threesomes could wait until the third or fourth round.”

As it turned out, trying to inhale hot cocoa was a terrible, terrible idea. Laura’s throat burned as she coughed and hacked the stuff up, doubled over and shaking with the force of her coughing while Carmilla snorted with laughter.

“You…suck…” Laura managed to force out between wracking coughs and panting breaths.

“Well, yeah.” Carmilla replied, utterly unrepentant. “Vampire, remember?”

The honey-blonde girl groaned. “ _So_ not what I meant.” Trying to salvage what was left of her dignity, she sat up and daintily sipped her drink. It really was much better when it wasn’t in danger of coming out through your nose. “So anyway, we had this charity fund at school.” She began to recount the adventures of Little Laura, trying hard to ignore the things Carmilla’s little smile did to her stomach all the while.

The chapters came and went, though Laura groaned loudly enough to wake most of the floor when her vampiric tutor made her relearn any chapters for which she answered more than half of the questions wrong. Frankly, Laura still didn’t really care about French literature, but learning about Carmilla was fascinating.

She learned about Will, who was currently drifting all over the world in search of some kind of purpose. A search which Carmilla described a former mama’s boy looking for a new role in life.

Laura also learned about Mattie and promptly decided that she was absolutely fine with never meeting her. Carmilla seemed to adore her older sister, but Laura had balked after the first story involved biting a barmaid and burning down the governor’s house and the journalism major got the sense that every story after that was carefully edited.

Hearing about Carmilla’s travels was one of the most interesting things, though. It almost made her jealous of the vampire with infinite time to spend on whatever took her fancy. Like art, for example. “Wait, so you’re saying you met van Gogh?” She asked, leaning forward. “As in the world famous painter?”

Ruefully, Carmilla shook her head. “Even I’m not quite that old. Most of the Dutch masters, van Gogh included, were dead before I was born, let alone turned, Cupcake.” She said, a disappointed frown on her face. “Mattie did, though. She said van Gogh was an artist who could make the mundane glorious and grand occasions extraordinary.” Her lips quirked up into a smile. “I’m pretty sure she had a crush.”

Laura laughed, trying to picture the imposing woman Carmilla described fawning over an middle-aged Dutch painter. “Did she meet any of the others?”

“All of them, really. Mattie has a real passion for art and beauty in general.” Carmilla nodded as she reminisced. “The only one I ever met was Rachel Ruysch, the only female painter to be acknowledged as one of the Dutch masters.”

“Really?” Laura’s brows rose. “I don’t think I’ve heard of her.”

“She mostly did still life paintings of flowers.” Carmilla answered, shrugging. “In fact I can’t think of anything else she did. Her work is gorgeous, but it gets a bit boring after you see a few of them.” She continued, making a face. “Also, she was rather weird. The woman had some issues.”

Laura laughed again. “Well, badass vampire Carmilla Karnstein admits to liking pictures of flowers.” She teased. “Surely that has to cost you some kind of vampire street cred.”

The pale girl rolled her eyes. “Well, you know how it is.” She muttered, eyes darting over to Laura for just a second before she looked down to inspect her nails. “The most unassuming things can hide the most intricate beauty.”

Despite the air of casual indifference to the vampire’s words they were followed by a not entirely unpleasant tension. The sort of tension that made Laura want to reach across the space between them and do… _something._ She wasn’t sure what.

_‘Something very stupid, probably’_ She thought with a sense of longing and hesitance. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and tried for a smile. “So…you can appreciate it, but it doesn’t sound like she’s your favourite.”

“Hm, not really, no.” Carmilla mused with a shrug. “But we really should be focussing on other things, Cupcake.” She pointedly looked at Laura’s textbook and the blonde only grumbled a little as she cracked it open again.

Through her successes, Laura learned about Carmilla’s many years in Paris, the many jobs she’d held over the centuries and even her brief stint in organized crime.

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me at all.” Laura laughed, snatching the bag of cookies they were eating from Carmilla. “You can’t even share some cookies without stealing the entire bag.”

“What can I say? Prohibition made for an excellent time to dabble on the other side of the law.” Carmilla drawled, snatching a few of the treats from the bag before Laura could pull it out of reach. “I won’t stand for this slander, though. I’m not stealing the bag.” With an expression of almost angelic innocence, she stuffed one of the cookies into her mouth. “Imf safin’ you frowm diabetef.”

Laura snorted with laughter, a wide grin splitting her face. Carmilla pulled off the innocent face rather well, though it was slightly ruined by the two fangs visibly digging into the cookie. “You’re adorable.” She told Carmilla, her heart twitching when the vampire playfully glared at her.

“I’mf a feawsome cweatuwe of the nighf!”

“Sure you are.” She shoved the rest of the cookie into Carmilla’s mouth, finger tingling where it just barely brushed against soft lips. With a rosy tint to her cheeks, she handed Carmilla the book and prepared for more quizzing.

More chapters came and went and Laura’s concentration notably suffered while Carmilla had that small, content smile on her face so the vampire took full advantage of their arrangement to drag more embarrassing childhood and family stories out of Laura.

Everything from growing up with a father who made his own bear spray, and almost got arrested for it because the neighbours thought we was making a biological weapon, to that one time where she’d successfully asked out a cheerleader in high school and ruined her exit by tripping and accidentally dumping her lunch tray all over herself.

Carmilla really had been far too amused by that and she had proved frustratingly immune to Laura’s attempts to murder her with her eyes. Still, when Laura finally got to ask a question again, she found hserself wishing she had stuck to the topic of embarrassing childhood memories a few seconds later. “So you’ve talked about Will a bit and a lot about Mattie and you’ve mentioned your mother, but you haven’t really talked about her.”

Immediately Carmilla tensed and her smile faded faster than snowfall in hell, Laura’s heart sinking as it slipped away. _‘Aw crap, Hollis, what did you do?’_

Carmilla looked away and cleared her throat. “Well, my parents are dead, obviously. As for the woman who made me…what I am, I’m not sure what there is to say.” She muttered, words heavy with reluctance.

Laura watched the vampire silently, wondering just how much was being left out here. Wondering what could possibly make Carmilla’s spirits crumble like a house of cards like that. Whatever it was, she wanted to understand, so she could make sure it didn’t happen again.

What else were friends for, right?

Slowly, Laura reached into the bag of cookies. She took the last one out and, with a pain in her heart that probably implied a _seriously_ unhealthy relationship with baked goods, held it out to Carmilla. “I think there’s probably a lot to say, with that expression you’re making.” She said softly. When Carmilla didn’t respond, she nudged the pale girl in the arm with the treat. “Hey, don’t go breaking the rules now, Karnstein.”

Carmilla’s eyes darted from the cookie to Laura’s face and back before they softened and she let out a sigh. “When some women start getting on in years, they take up bridge or knitting or something.” She began, accepting the cookie. “My mother took up the appeasement and/or worship of a giant anglerfish demon thing that got stuck in this dimension.”

Carmilla told Laura about the girls she had brought to her mother. She told Laura how they came back changed and then vanished for good days later. She told Laura about the girl she couldn’t subject to that. She told Laura about Ell and how she fell in love with her.

She told Laura how that wasn’t enough for Ell to stay and listen when it became clear what Carmilla was. She told her how she saw Ell undergo the same fate of all of those other girls, before Carmilla was sealed away for decades.

Decades which were very useful in plotting the murder of your sire, as it turned out.

She told Laura of the satisfaction she’d expected to feel when the plan worked out and though the pain that came when that satisfaction wasn’t there went unmentioned, Laura could see it in Carmilla’s eyes.

“So that’s it, Cupcake.” Carmilla muttered, a lopsided and humourless smile on her face. “Here I am, properly orphaned now, just seeing what the world has in store and what the hell I’m going to do next.” She scoffed. “Other than getting roped into playing bodyguard for a Lois Lane wannabe with a death wish.”

Laura ignored the comment, blinking rapidly against the tears stinging at her eyes. Wordlessly she opened her arms and leaned forward slowly, never breaking eye contact with Carmilla. It was almost funny that the centuries old vampire who could snap the human girl like a twig almost seemed scared when she realized what Laura was doing.

The younger girl tried to comfort Carmilla through her gaze as she wrapped her arms around her stiff frame and buried her face in the vampire’s neck. She was rigid and tense and she smelled like leather and pine, but Carmilla was a lot warmer than Laura had expected a vampire to be. She lacked the real warmth of another human, but she wasn’t cold like a dead body should be, either.

After a few seconds, Carmilla’s arms came up and hesitantly returned the embrace. “Hey, Cupcake.” She husked, rubbing up and down Laura’s back. “It’s okay.”

Laura let out a pitiful noise and shook her head as the first tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks slowly because it wasn’t okay, _dammit._ Nothing about that story was okay. Not only that, but Laura was supposed to be the one doing the comforting here! She took a shuddering breath. “I’m so sorry, Carm.” She whispered. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that.”

Carmilla was silent for a while and then Laura felt the vampire bury her face into Laura’s hair. “Not your fault, Cupcake.” Another sigh ruffled honey-blonde strands. “But thank you, Laura.”

They sat like that for a long time, Carmilla rubbing Laura’s back while the shorter girl clung to the vampire tightly. Just through her tight embrace Laura was trying to tell Carmilla that she was sorry and that she wanted to keep her safe because clearly nobody had ever bothered looking out for Carmilla.

Nobody had ever really cared and it tore at Laura’s heart in the worst way.

She wasn’t sure when, but eventually the embrace relaxed. They both didn’t cling quite as tightly, but they didn’t pull back and only seemed to melt into each other further. It was nice, being held by Carmilla. She may have lacked body heat, but Laura felt plenty warm all the same.

And perhaps because she was so busy ignoring the reason for that, she didn’t pay proper attention to the words building at the tip of her tongue. “You know, if you’re looking for what to do next, you could stick around.” They spilled unbidden from her lips and Laura felt her eyes widen when she realized it was too late to stop them.

“Hm?” Carmilla muttered.

“Well…I mean…you know…” Laura sputtered, glad her face was still hidden in the crook of Carmilla’s neck. “I think it would be nice to have you around once we solve this thing. I mean, I get that you’re probably going to move on soon after this, but I guess we’re friends now and I’d like to do some stuff that doesn’t involve missing persons and potential death. It can still involve magic though, because magic existing is the best news I’ve heard all year, but preferably not any intended for shutting up nosy journalism majors because-“ She stopped rambling when Carmilla’s hands stilled on her back.

“I…was thinking about moving on soon. I’ve been here a while.” The pale girl said, voice slow and hesitant. “I thought I might go back to Paris for a bit. I still have a place there. Visit the Louvre, maybe.”

“Oh.” Laura tried to keep the bitter disappointment pressing down on her chest from the tone of her voice. “That sounds really great. I’ve always wanted to go there.” She nudged the older girl. “I at least expect a card, okay?”

Carmilla made low noise of agreement and chuckled. She was silent again for a few minutes and then Laura felt Carmilla swallow nervously. “Cupcake, you could…”

And then the door flung open and they sprung apart like they had been shocked.

“Hey Frosh I-Oh hell, again?!” Laf yelled as they marched in an immediately slapped their hands over their eyes at the sight of the frazzled freshman and vampire. “What did I interrupt this time?”

“Nothing!” They yelped  simultaneously.

Laura flinched, knowing that probably didn’t do much to dissuade suspicion. “What is it, Laf?” She asked, sitting up straight and doing her best to seem less annoyed than she felt. Honestly, Lafontaine was brilliant but they had the _worst_ timing.

Not that there was much to interrupt. Just friends being friendly and comforting each other. Laura just knew that Carmilla would be embarrassed if she was seen like that. That was all.

The ginger scientist peeked through their fingers, glancing from Laura’s eager expression to Carmilla’s murderous glare. “Eh, right.” They awkwardly cleared their throat. “So, I ran the tests and-”

“Wait, what?!” Laura yelled incredulously. Those tests were supposed to take most of the day and Laura and Carmilla had only been talking and studying for….She looked up at the clock and felt her jaw drop. Hours! They had been here for hours! Most of the day, in fact. She glanced down at her forgotten textbook and found it was open on one of the last few chapters.

Still gaping, she turned to Carmilla and found the vampire smirking smugly. “It’s not my fault you can’t keep track of time, Sweetheart.” She purred with a wink. “At least you’re more prepared for your test now, right?”

Laura could only sputter uselessly, which Lafontaine clearly didn’t have the patience for. “ _Anyway,”_ they interrupted “the police chief is absolutely magical. I’m not even sure he’s human.”

Laura and Carmilla both snapped their attention back to Lafontaine, who was looking down at the laptop they had brought with them. “The blood you brought me it’s…weird. It doesn’t break down and congeal like blood should when it’s, y’know, no longer in your body. It almost seems like there’s some weird energy, constantly repairing the cells and keeping them going.”

Laura groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Great, so the chief of police isn’t human. Great. Next you’ll tell me that my journalism teacher is a werewolf, because why not at this point?”

“Well, I don’t know about that, but I’m 78% certain that my ethics professor is a lizard per-” Lafontaine’s enthusiasm drained sharply when they caught another menacing glare from Carmilla. “Right, nevermind. Tangent. Anyway, I’m not sure he’s not _human_ per se. The blood seems human enough.” They threw Carmilla a quizzical look. “Could magic do something like this?”

Laura turned to look at the vampire as well and Carmilla dramatically rolled her eyes. “Do I _look_ like I attended Hogwarts?” Laura grinned and opened her mouth, but Carmilla raised a hand and  narrowed her eyes at her. “Not a word, Cupcake.”

“That’s just one more thing to figure out, then.” Lafontaine sighed, making a note on their laptop. “At least we have Carmilla’s mother’s book.” They looked up from the screen. “If we want to prove the chief actually did anything, though, we’ll still need the knife.”

“Let’s go then.” Laura jumped off of the bed and stretched. “ _Somebody_ may have distracted me with French literature,” she paused to glare at an unrepentant Carmilla “but Carmilla can just poof us inside and we can find the knife and poof out again. Simple.”

“Think again, Cupcake.” The pale girl scoffed, stretching out on Laura’s bed. “That’s a lot of guns, potentially a lot of mages and certainly a lot of cameras. I’m not taking you there.”

“She’s right, Frosh.” Lafontaine agreed with a shrug. “The party was one thing, but going into the station could end with you so full of holes that we might as well put straws in you so Carmilla can have easy access.”

“I’m kind of on board with that idea, honestly.” Carmilla smirked.

Shaking off that disturbing mental image, Laura growled and began to pace. “Fine, whatever. But we do need to do something soon. At the very least we have to know if the knife is still even _there.”_ She muttered as she walked. “And since you seem to doubt our ability to sneak...”

“Frosh, I knock over something made of glass and filled with dangerous chemicals at least once per day in the labs.” The ginger biology major interjected with a sceptical frown. “And I’ve seen you trip on actual air and fall into an art student’s wind chime display.”

_‘Why must everyone ruin good ideas with facts?’_ Laura thought as she waved off the protests. “Fine, fine whatever. We still need to do something! How can we find out if the knife is still there and how can we get to it?”

Lafontaine smirked. “I guess it’s a good thing we know someone with the police, then.”

“We do?” Laura froze mid-step, realization hitting her smack in the face. “Oh shoot, we do!” She began frantically digging in her pocket for her phone.

“Wait, what?” Carmilla lifted herself up on her elbows and raised a brow. “We do?”

Laura found the name she was looking for in her contacts and grinned as she dialled. “Hey, Kirsch? Yeah it’s Laura. Listen, do you want to grab a burger and talk about something?”

Carmilla groaned loudly and flopped back down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was that then, Creampuffs?
> 
> Like I said, bit shorter and slower, but I like how it came out all the same. The way I've got it in my head now, the next chapter will mostly involve actually obtaining the knife (and some bumbling from Kirsch). That chapter won't have too many revalations yet, in fact it'll probably raise a few questions, but it does set up for a number of them in the chapter after that, so look forward to that Creampuffs!
> 
> ...Assuming those don't take another 6 months to write...
> 
> Anyway, Creampuffs, be sure to let me know what you think and [say hi on Tumblr](http://sirprizex.tumblr.com/) if you want to listen to me ramble or ask me questions...or if you just want to have some warning as to when I plan to start conquering the planet.


	9. Close to the Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hey, Creampuffs!
> 
> Once again it took a while for me to post but, if you haven't caught the update [on Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sirprizex), there is good news too. There are three more chapters already finished and my lovely beta, smartassducky, just has to look them over before they go up. So for once it won't take a month or so before I post a new chapter XD
> 
> Anyway, Creampuffs, I hope you'll enjoy reading and please let me know what you think!

Sleep was a strange thing. At least it felt like one when you no longer needed it. Carmilla remembered her first few attempts at falling asleep after she was brought back. It felt like trying to ride a bike when the concept had been poorly explained to you by an instruction manual written in Greek. As the years and eventually decades and centuries went by, she got better at it and these days she spent the occasional day or two doing nothing but sleeping. It was nice to just turn off for a bit.

Mattie always complained about it, calling sleeping a waste of productivity for a creature no longer bound to the limits of mortals.

Carmilla had calmly and clearly explained to her sister that she would give up on naps the day Mattie chose to drink from an animal rather than whatever eager mortal pet she could find. Besides, Carmilla had not been much of a productive member of society in life. Why the hell would she put in the effort after her death?

So in conclusion, Carmilla no longer needed to sleep but did so anyway because sleep was great. It was just a shame that she wasn’t getting much of it this night. Not for fun reasons, either.

For the third time in a row, Carmilla was yanked from that pleasant spot drifting between slumber and wakefulness when Laura shot up from her bed with strangled gasp. Despite a twinge of concern, Carmilla rolled her eyes. It had been tough enough to reach even those early stages of slumber, given how the creampuff tossed and turned.

The dark room was bright as a summer morning to her eyes and Carmilla saw Laura raise a trembling hand to her chest as she gasped for air. Soon after that hand moved to cover her mouth as the girl turned almost grey. Laura’s heart was hammering in her chest, its rapid beat an almost deafening disturbance to Carmilla’s ears in the quiet room.

As quietly as possible, Laura slipped from her bed. She stepped around where Carmilla lay on the floor quickly and sprinted over to the sink. Retching even before she reached it, the blonde dove forward just in time to empty her stomach into the sink.

With a sigh Carmilla rose. She was just glad nobody was around to witness this. They might have accused her of possessing a shred of sympathy. She followed Laura to the sink and placed a hand on the trembling girl’s back. Laura jumped, of course. “It’s just me, Cupcake.” Carmilla soothed.

“Need to put a bell on you.” Laura said. Though she tried for humour, throwing up had left her voice sounding scratchy and pained. Laura didn’t look up from the sink and half-heartedly spat in it in an attempt to rid herself of the taste of bile. “Sorry. I woke you up.”

“You did. It’s quite annoying.” Carmilla said, a smirk pulling at her lips. “Count yourself lucky vampires don’t need sleep like little mortals do.” The pale girl ran her hand soothingly up and down Laura’s back. She wasn’t entirely sure how to help. The fact that she wanted to was making her feel weird enough already. “Trust me, Cupcake, you don’t want to see me cranky from lack of sleep.”

This time when Laura’s shoulders trembled it was with an exhausted laugh. “So the snark and complaining so far is you being chipper?” She asked, shaking her head. “Dumbledore help me, I think you being cranky might attract a mob of goths to bask in your angst.”

“Please, those amateurs wouldn’t know a real problem if one slapped them in the face.” Carmilla laughed softly as she turned Laura around. “Speaking of problems, you wanna tell me why you’ve jerked awake for the third time in a row and decided to reunite with your dinner?” She asked with a raised brow. “I assume it’s more than just your steady diet of processed sugar and nothing else.”

Laura looked exhausted. Small, bloodshot eyes  searched Carmilla’s face while she visibly supressed a yawn. The pallor of her complexion was honestly a little worrying and messy strands of honey-blonde hair stuck to the clammy skin of her forehead. “I’m okay.” She mumbled in blatant defiance of all symptoms. “Just not a restful night. Give me your mom’s book or something. I might as well do some research.”

Carmilla scoffed, already tired of this discussion. “Cupcake, the only reason I’d fetch that book right now is to knock you out with it.” Carmilla said as she put a hand on Laura’s back and gently urged her back in the direction of her bed. “You need to sleep, Poptart.”

Laura seemed to stiffen under her touch and dug in her heels as they approached the bed. “Carmilla.” She pleaded, shaking her head. “Come on, I’m not even that tired.” Of course she immediately yawned and Laura shot Carmilla a glare, daring her to say something.

Carmilla wasn’t impressed. “Laura, I don’t even need sleep and I feel tired just looking at you.” She nudged the shorter girl towards the bed again, but this time Laura darted away from the vampire’s touch and took two pointed steps away from the bed.

“No, okay?!” She yelled and immediately flinched when someone pounded on the wall. “I don’t want to sleep, okay?!” She hissed, quiet but still entirely furious. “Every time I-I just can’t! A man died here, Carmilla. Right in front of me. His blood was on my sheets and you expect me to just sleep in this room?!” Laura’s hands were flying all over the place, the vigour of her gesturing only matched by how nonsensical it was. “I’m sorry that you’ve seen so many people die that you’re just totally cool with it, but I’m not! I can’t sleep and I don’t want to so I might as well do research or… _something_ anyway, because we have so much we have to do.”

Tears of pure frustration were gathering in Laura’s eyes now and Carmilla had to admit it tore at something in her chest . “Cupcake…” She began as she took a hesitant step closer.

Laura didn’t notice. “I have class really early in the morning and we have to go and meet Kirsch immediately afterwards and how the hell do I tell him his buddies might have kidnapped SJ, not to mention the whole magic thing?” She rambled. One hand rose to tangle in her hair and tugged on the strands in a way that had to be painful. “And then we have to come up with a plan to steal a knife, from the police of all people, and it’s going to put everyone in danger and who knows if any of the girls are still alive and I don’t know if I should be pouring all my time into that or at least _try_ to pass my classes because if we’re not fast enough-”

“Laura!” Carmilla yelled, pointedly disregarding the renewed pounding on the wall and the demand for silence. She took the younger girl’s hands in her own and fixed her with a stern look. “Please take a breath, because you are actually turning blue.”

Laura took a fast, uneven breath while her lips quivered as if she could not decide whether to let go and cry or continue her rant.  Still, she didn’t interrupt.

“Bit slower, Cupcake. Come on.” Carmilla muttered softly. She kept eye contact and pointedly took slow, steady breaths until some of the tension drained from Laura’s shoulders and her breathing fell in sync with Carmilla’s. “That’s right.” The pale girl muttered, gently urging Laura a step closer to the bed while she was distracted. “Now, what’s going on? Why can’t you sleep?”

“I keep seeing someone die.” Laura muttered in a frightfully small voice. “The officer. Perry. Lafontaine. You.” She looked down at their clasped hands and shook her head. “I’m trying to get to them or away from them and it never works. The next thing I know they’re covered in those…line things and then…” She swallowed thickly and shook her head again.

Carmilla sighed. Laura was not entirely wrong. Carmilla just was not quite as bothered by things like that anymore, even if it did involve a suicide through magic. “Do you want to sleep at my place?” She asked, even though she knew it was a terrible, terrible idea.

Laura did not respond for a while and then shook her head. “I-No. I’ll have to sleep here sooner or later.” She looked around the dark room as if her nightmares were about to step out of the shadows. “I can’t just run from this. Can we just talk for a bit?” Watery eyes looked up at Carmilla. “I don’t want to sleep right now.”

If Laura had looked any less distressed, Carmilla might have laughed. The poor cupcake was almost falling over with exhaustion despite her declaration that she wanted anything but to sleep. “Alright, why don’t you lay down and we’ll talk?” She muttered softly, guiding Laura until she was sitting on her bed.

“I-No.” Laura protested around a yawn. “Carmilla, I want to talk, not sleep.”

“We will.” Carmilla muttered reassuringly even as she nudged at Laura’s legs until the girl pulled them up on the bed. When Laura was once more under the covers, Carmilla turned and made her way to what had quickly become her spot on the floor. “So, what shall we talk about, Cupcake?”

Before the vampire could get very far, though, she felt a tug on her right hand. Carmilla looked down and saw Laura had caught it in a vice grip. “Laura?”

The shorter girl bit her lip. “Please don’t.” She breathed, tugging Carmilla closer. “Stay, please?”

The pale girl arched a brow questioningly and then realized Laura probably couldn’t see that in the dark. “I’ll be just over there, Cupcake.” She muttered, rolling her eyes.

“Too far.” Laura said sleepily. She tugged Carmilla closer and simultaneously held up the sheets in an invitation. “Please?” She asked again. “I just need someone to _be_ here tonight.” Even though she was exhausted, there was a hint of defiance in her eyes as if she was daring Carmilla to say something.

That was the last thing on the pale girl’s mind, though. The moment Laura had extended the invitation, Carmilla felt her heart drop to her stomach. Her eyes darted from Laura’s face to the legs left bare by her sleep shorts and finally the honey-blonde girl’s neck as Carmilla tried to stamp down the dark excitement welling up within her.

She could still taste Laura’s blood on her tongue and it took very little effort to recall the whimpers that had spilled from her lips. Much as Carmilla wanted to say that picking her up and pinning her to the wall had been an instinctive thing, it would have been a lie. She had done that because she wanted to. Because she wanted to see Laura come apart against her thigh. On her fingers. Clutching at her hair as she rode Carmilla’s tongue.

And most of all she had wanted Laura to arch with pleasure as she bit her again. As Carmilla drank from her with each orgasm. Hunger and lust were very hard to separate for a vampire, especially one who hadn’t eaten properly for days. The fact that she now knew what Laura tasted like did little to help that.

This was a terrible, terrible idea.

Despite her misgivings, Carmilla found herself climbing into Laura’s bed and grumbling as the shorter girl wiggled to make room. Which was rather difficult, considering how small the bed was. They still wound up pressed far too closely together and Carmilla opted to stop breathing entirely, rather than torture herself by breathing in Laura’s scent.

No matter how sweet that torture was.

“Happy now?” She muttered, trying to find a comfortable spot on the yellow pillow. Laura seemed to almost radiate heat and she tried to concentrate on how quickly it felt like she was overheating, rather than how soft the skin she could feel against her own was.

As Laura shifted to get comfortable as well, Carmilla cursed the fact that they had both chosen sleepwear that left their legs mostly exposed.

“Thank you.” Laura murmured as she settled under the sheets. She put a hand on Carmilla’s side and the vampire stiffened under her touch. “For everything.” She shot Carmilla a guilty look. “I know you _have_ to protect me and you’re not really doing it for me, but-”

“You’re such an idiot.” Carmilla groaned with a roll of her eyes. “I’m in your bed, Cupcake. Of course I’m doing it for you.” She was starting to wonder how often she would have to say that before it sank in. Anyone else Carmilla would have expected of fishing for compliments, but Laura just genuinely seemed not to get it. Even now the vampire could see doubt in the searching look the blonde levelled at her.

“Oh, eh, thank you.” Laura muttered demurely. She squirmed a little, not quite meeting Carmilla’s eye. “Still, I’m sorry you got dragged into this.” She moved a little closer until her nose was just barely brushing against Carmilla’s shoulder. “I really hoped my first bit of investigative journalism would be a little less dangerous. Or at least not put my friends in danger.” She paused and snorted derisively. “Though the only journalism-related thing I’ve done is take notes. I should record this!” She shot up, eyes wide with sleepy excitement.

Before she could clamber over Carmilla, the vampire yanked her back down and Laura bounced as she hit the mattress again. Face to face once more, the older girl gave her an unamused glare.

“Tomorrow.” Laura muttered apologetically. “I should record this tomorrow.”

“That’s what I thought.” Carmilla drawled with a satisfied smirk. After a moment it faltered and she let out a sigh. “Look, Cupcake, you know this isn’t your fault right?” When she got no reply, she nudged Laura and offered her a small smile. “You’re ridiculous and headstrong and absolutely kind of naïve, but it’s not like you set out to piss off a bunch of mages. You wanted to help a few missing girls.” She brushed a few honey-blonde strands off of Laura’s forehead. “I’ll deny this if you ever tell anyone, but it’s kind of admirable.”

For just a second Laura’s eyes darted down to Carmilla’s lips and she felt a sudden and intense sense of anticipation and panic. Then the moment ended and Laura’s eyes shot back up to her own as the younger girl smiled. “Carmilla Karnstein, vampire, imposter cat and total softy. Who would have guessed?”

Carmilla blushed, but snarled through her embarrassment. “I’m an undead creature of myth, Cupcake. I am not soft.”

“You are. Total softie.” Laura taunted sleepily. Her head was now resting on Carmilla’s shoulder and, okay, when had that happened? Her eyelids were drooping and her speech was little more than a mumbled slur.

“And you’re an annoyance.” Carmilla huffed as she tried to wiggle out from under Laura. “Get off of me, Creampuff.” Unfortunately Laura only clung more tightly and made a displeased noise, already half-asleep despite her protests.

“Doooon’t.” She whined and pouted. “Stop moving. ‘M comfy.”

The vampire let out a defeated sigh and flopped back on to the bed. The fact that Laura had a perfectly good, if somewhat small, pillow apparently didn’t register with her anymore. “This is the worst idea you’ve ever had.”

She felt Laura’s head shift on her shoulder and when Carmilla glanced at the younger girl she found two brown eyes looking back at her, hazy with the need for rest. They were unreadable as they roamed her face, lingering on Carmilla’s lips. “Nah, ‘s not so bad.” Laura mumbled as she closed her eyes and snuggled in again. “I’ve had way worse ideas.”

The pressure that had hit her chest the moment Laura’s sleepy eyes met her own lifted as those brown orbs slid shut again and Carmilla silently thanked fate for letting her breathe again. Not that she needed it, but the ease with which Laura stole her breath sometimes was terrifying.

Of course, that’s only where the torture started.

Laura was not an easy sleeper. She mumbled about ducks conquering the planet, flailed at something in her dreams and rolled over only to decide that the side she had been sleeping on was more comfortable after all. And then the whole thing repeated itself, because of course it did.

The only breaks in this cycle came during her nightmares. Twice she suddenly began to whimper in her sleep and the mumbling took on a more distressed tone. The first time she didn’t even wake up as Carmilla gently shook her and whispered reassuringly, but something clearly soothed her. Her brow unfurrowed and her breathing soon evened out again.

Little more than an hour later the whimpering began again though and this time her eyes snapped open as Carmilla gently shook her shoulder. Panicked, they explored the planes of Carmilla’s face. “Please don’t explode.” She implored, eyes glinting with unshed tears.

Carmilla couldn’t help the wry smile that tugged at her lips. “I’ll try not to, Cupcake.” She husked, gently urging Laura to put her head back down. “It was just a dream.”

“Jus’ a dream.” Laura echoed sleepily as she settled on Carmilla’s shoulder again. Her eyes scanned Carmilla’s face one last time, as if she was making sure that the vampire wasn’t about to magically detonate herself, and then fluttered shut again. Her breathing evened out soon after, but the night was no more restful for Carmilla.

If Laura’s sleeping habits weren’t enough of a trial, she had to deal with them while utterly wrapped in the Cupcake’s scent and with a perfect view of her neck. Pretty, slender and still bearing a bite mark and two small holes.

Carmilla’s bite. Carmilla’s mark.

She had utterly failed at retracting her fangs ever since she settled down in this bed and they ached to finish what Carmilla had started.  To bite and drink and claim. Blood packs seemed like such a stale, boring prospect when she could drink such glorious ambrosia like Laura’s blood straight from a warm, soft body.

_‘God, I’m not even hungry.’_ Carmilla lamented. And she wasn’t, or not really, at least. It was just that she was hungry for Laura and guess who happened to be right here and defenceless? She really needed to have a talk with the cupcake about predators and instincts.

With a soft growl, Carmilla tried to shake the thoughts off. She was three centuries old, for God’s sake. Surely she could get through a night without fantasizing about drinking from the girl at her side. _‘On that note…’_ She thought and glanced at Laura’s face. The girl had gone oddly still.

For a moment Carmilla felt hopeful that she could get some decent sleep at last. However, then she noticed how Laura’s chest wasn’t moving. There was a brief moment of panic before she realized that everything else in the room was equally still.

A soft snarl rose from her throat when she noticed the faint glimmer that seemed to cover everything. Magic. Carmilla had a faint idea of who was doing this, but all the same she tried to squirm out from under Laura and get up. The cupcake was like a block of lead in her frozen state.

The door opened and Carmilla stiffened, but the sight of bushy red hair filled her with relief. And annoyance. Mainly the latter, in fact. “Some people knock, Curly Sue.” She growled, no longer bothering to get out from under Laura. Why bothering standing if it was just one of the gingers?

“Well, some people don’t have metaphysical topics to discuss. As you might recall from when you were tied to a chair in this very room, the ability to freeze time in a set space is very useful.” Perry countered primly.

Carmilla frowned at the memory. Instead of doing something useful, like helping her escape, Perry had spent her time lecturing Carmilla about all the things she couldn’t tell Laura and her own ginger charge about.

The redhead pulled Laura’s desk chair over and shot the ruined armrest a disdainful glance before she sat down. “If I’d known you were…indisposed…”

It took Carmilla a few seconds to make sense of the awkward expression on Perry’s face. “Hang on, you think-” She cut herself off and sent the guardian angel the most suggestive smirk she could. “Oh, you have _no_ idea. Good thing you weren’t here earlier, because if you’d frozen this whole place in time then you would have accidentally made a beautiful piece of erotic art.” She drawled, pointedly licking her lips.

Perry gaped for a few seconds, before she rapidly shook her head. “Oh! Eh, I, Well…I’m glad I wasn’t here for that, then.” She muttered, cheeks almost as red as her hair.

“Good thing your room is at the other end of the hall.” Carmilla smiled like the cat who ate the canary. Or the cupcake, in this case. “Pretty sure the girl in the room next to this one got no sleep at all.” She let out an exaggerated, utterly pornographic moan and mimicked Laura’s voice. “Oh, harder Carmilla. Yes, yes! Please lick my-”

“ _Alright!”_ Perry shot up and covered her ears, looking at anything but Carmilla. Her eyes had gone frighteningly wide and so much of the blood in her body seemed to have gathered in her face that Carmilla briefly wondered how she was still conscious.

The vampire laughed and shot the redhead a sardonic smirk. “Relax, Ginger Spice. Nothing happened.” She said with as little disappointment in her voice as she could manage.

“Oh.” Perry slowly lowered her hands from her ears. “Well ha ha. Very funny, Carmilla.” With a huff she spun around and began picking up the things scattered around Laura’s room and putting them away, muttering to herself about insensitive vampires all the while.

Carmilla arched a brow. Perry was almost always tense, but the fact that she actually seemed offended surprised the vampire. “Damn, tough crowd. I knew you were a prude, Curly Sue, but I didn’t think it was this bad.” She drawled with a roll of her eyes. It was as close to an apology as she was willing to get.

Perry let out a heavy sigh and smoothed down her skirt before she faced Carmilla again. “No, I’m sorry. It’s just a bit of a sore point.” She muttered regretfully. When Carmilla gave her a questioning look, she wrung her hands. “Relationships are…difficult, for guardian angels. It is a rather demanding existence.” She cleared her throat. “Especially given the amount of time we spend with people we are expected never to develop feelings for.”

“Oooooooooh.” Carmilla laughed, ignoring the frustrated look the guardian angel sent her. “That explains it.” It didn’t take long for the penny to drop with that information. Carmilla bared white teeth at Perry in a triumphant grin. “You’re jeal-”

“Shhhhhh!” Perry shot forward, waving frantically. She slapped a hand over Carmilla’s mouth and shook the vampire. “You cannot say things like that! Even the mere insinuation that a guardian angel has feelings for their charge could seriously hurt their career.” She hissed, nervously looking around for something. “It could get them suspended or slapped with an investigation.” Somehow she made both of those things sound like the end of the world.

Carmilla barely paid attention. She was more focused on getting even. Primarily by licking the length of Perry’s palm until the ginger pulled it away.

“Ugh, you are an _actual child._ ” The frantic redhead hissed, wiping her palm on Laura’s bedsheets with a look of disgust. “A three centuries old, undead, blood drinking child.”

Carmilla ignored the redhead’s muttering and arched a brow at her. “Suspension, huh?” Now a few pieces of the puzzle were finally sliding into place. “So is that why the illustrious guardian angel Danny Lawrence isn’t here to protect Lauronica Mars?” She asked.

Perry glanced around again and let out a heavy sigh. “Yes, yes it is.” She muttered, flopping down on the chair again with a resigned air. “Danny got very fond of Laura and I think that went both ways.” She muttered with a sad smile. “There were pie dates at first and those are fine; some guardian angels like to be involved in the lives of their charges, but at some point they became very frequent pie dates and then it got to a point where there were outings which they both insisted weren’t dates, but there were gooey eyes being thrown all over the place and I told her it was a bad idea and I would never reassign Danny because I’ve known her for- Look, at some point it was taken out of my hands.”

Perry gestured wildly as she talked, only growing more and more agitated until she finally had to take a breath. “She’s under investigation now.” She continued, a bit winded from her earlier bout of word vomiting that would have put Laura to shame. “Nothing happened, though. Danny swears up and down that it didn’t and Laura says they never even kissed. They got into a huge fight before things could really…grow.” She gave Carmilla a look as she spoke, though the vampire failed to see the meaning behind it.

“Sorry, did it I seem like I care who the cupcake sleeps with?” Carmilla drawled sarcastically. She stamped down hard on the part of herself that shouted that, yes, she was very interested in exactly that. For reasons she had no intention of examining, Laura sleeping with that ginger giant set rage simmering in her stomach.

“Of course you don’t.” Perry said far too quickly and far too knowingly. “Just giving you the whole story.” She added with a smile normally reserved for things much cuter than an irate creature of the night.

Carmilla sneered. “Why can’t you guys have feelings for your charges anyway?” She asked with a huff. It seemed like a dumb rule. “Good way to get close to them, right?”

“Well, not all guardian angels actually take on a physical body. Some remain ethereal and protect their charges that way, so getting close isn’t really a problem.” Perry began, nervously wringing her hands. She still gave off the impression that she was one sudden noise away from sweeping the dorm for listening devices.  “And it’s a few things. Mainly the fact that we are eternal and our charges…well, they’re not.”

“So?” Carmilla arched a brow. She had known more than one creature that lived a whole lot longer than the average human and it had stopped very few of them from dating.

“Well, there is the concern that a guardian who grows too attached to their charge will try to keep them safe even when they no longer need protection…or even when their time has come.” The ginger guardian angel muttered reluctantly. “It’s happened before and it wasn’t pretty. Plus, a guardian might ignore their new charge in favour of an older one.” She took a slightly shaky breath and looked down at her hands. “It’s not so bad. It protects us too. Nobody wants to see the person they love age and die while they remain the same.”

Carmilla could sympathize with that at least. If you got old enough it became less crushing, but it never made growing close to mortals more enticing. Another reason why she probably shouldn’t dwell on biting Laura so much. That was just going to be nothing but trouble.

“Have you ever lost someone like that?” Carmilla asked Perry, deciding to focus on other things for now.

Perry slowly shook her head. “Some of my charges are dead now, of course, but I wasn’t with most of them for very long. It’s just when I think about-” She paused and quickly shook her head before clearing her throat. “It’s just not a pleasant thought.” She continued, voice still perilously close to breaking.

They both fell silent for a while and Carmilla was surprised to find she actually felt bad for the germophobic redhead. Making the choice not to get to involved with mortals was easy enough for immortal creatures who could just distance themselves, and yet some of them still failed. It was probably a lot harder to do so when your entire job was being around them and keeping them safe.

“Well, this wasn’t really what I came here to talk about.” Perry eventually muttered. She was fidgeting in her chair again, just looking around for something to clean. “I was actually coming to see how things were.”

Carmilla frowned and looked at the frozen journalism major next to her. “The Lois Lane wannabe here isn’t sleeping much. She woke up to vomit fifteen minutes ago.” She said. Immediately Perry’s expression changed to a sort of sappy smile and Carmilla rolled her eyes. “It’s been impossible to get some freaking sleep with all the tossing and turning even before she got up.”

“Hmhm.” Perry nodded, expression dubious and far too amused for Carmilla’s liking. “I see.” She leaned in and pressed a shining hand to Laura’s cheek. After a few seconds, the glow seemed to pass from Perry’s hand to Laura’s cheek and it abated not long after.

“What did you do?” Carmilla asked. To her surprise she felt nervous about allowing anyone, even someone as objectively benevolent as Perry, to get near Laura with any sort of magic.

“It will help her sleep.” The redheaded guardian angel replied softly. She then turned her attention to Carmilla and raised a brow. “How about you, dear?”

Carmilla met the arched brow with one of her own. “Me?” She asked. “What about me?”

“How are you?” Perry clarified. “It has been quite the few days for Laura, but you’ve been dealing with it since before she even knew you were. Are you okay?”

Carmilla could not help feeling a little touched at the genuine concern in Perry’s eyes. Touched and annoyed, because why did the ginger suddenly care now? It was not like Carmilla was actually one of the guardian angels who reported to her. “I’m fine, Ginger Spice.” She answered sharply. “Like you said, it’s not like I don’t have experience protecting the cupcake by now.”

The redhead’s arm twitched as if she was about to reach out, but thought better of it at the last second. Instead she folded her hands in her lap and gave Carmilla an apologetic look. “I’m sorry I didn’t check in sooner.”

“I don’t need your help.” The vampire shot back, quickly growing less touched and more annoyed. This whole conversation was drifting far too close to pity for Carmilla’s liking.

“I know you don’t.” Perry let out an aggravated huff. “Carmilla, I’m not trying to be patronizing. Could you please just…” She trailed off with a groan and gestured helplessly. When Carmilla didn’t immediately bite her head off, she took a deep breath. “I’m not good with unexpected things.”

“Nooooo.” Carmilla drawled with sarcasm so thick it seemed to flood the room. “I never would have guessed that from your ‘one mental breakdown away from being sectioned’ air.”

Perry shot the pale girl a glare, but otherwise ignored her as she continued. “So getting the news that a vampire, of all people, was somehow assigned as somebody’s guardian angel was not something I responded very well to.” She winced. “There may have been some…loud calls with the head office.”

Finally the awkwardness apparently became too much for Perry as the ginger shot up with a huff and resumed nervously clearing away the clutter in Laura’s room. “When I first met you, I was absolutely certain Laura was doomed. I had these visions of you drinking her dry or seducing her or just throwing her into oncoming traffic the first time she annoyed you.” She muttered as she collected the sticky notes littering Laura’s desk into a neat pile.

Carmilla threw Perry a big, toothy grin that showed off her fangs. “I would be offended if I had not been planning to do those exact things back then.” She admitted with a shrug.

Wide, permanently nervous eyes turned to Carmilla and narrowed into a glare. “You _still_ did one of those things.” The ginger guardian angel hissed before she took another deep breath. “But you explained that and, as utterly irresponsible as it was, at least it was Laura’s choice.” Her eyes softened. “And I believe I was wrong to worry. You have protected Laura and I really think you want to keep her safe.”

Carmilla’s grin faltered and then vanished. There was hope and something akin to admiration in Perry’s eyes. As uncomfortable as that made Carmilla, she could not quite bring herself to rid the ginger of it either. Instead, she turned so she was looking at Laura’s frozen face and sighed. “She’s…something. Yes, I want her to be safe. That good enough, Curly Sue?”

No answer came at first, through from the sound of someone shuffling around the room Carmilla could tell that Perry had returned to her self-appointed task. “It is.” She finally said, a small smile playing over her lips as she sorted Laura’s textbooks alphabetically.

They were both silent for a while. Perry cleaned while Carmilla stared alternatively at the ceiling or at Laura. A few strands of her honey-blonde hair had spilled messily over the journalism major’s forehead. Carmilla wanted to smooth them back but, even if they had not been frozen in time, she had a feeling that would be a terrible idea.

“I’m leaving, once this is done.” Carmilla said with some reluctance. “All this crap with the mages. Once this is done, I’m going someplace else. I’ve been here too long.”

Perry didn’t immediately reply. The only indication that she had heard at all was a brief pause in the sound of her cleaning. When she did answer, she sounded hesitant. “Maybe that is for the best.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Why are you telling me?”

Carmilla opened her mouth, but quickly closed it again when she realised she did not really have a response. Why _did_ she tell Perry? It was not like it mattered. Not to the guardian angel, at least. “Just figured I would.” She finally said, unable to work out her own motivations. She looked over at Perry and was surprised to find the redhead giving her a reproachful look. “Got something to say, Ginger Spice?” Carmilla asked, hackles raising.

Genuine anger seemed to flare in Perry’s eyes for a moment. “Unlike me you can-” She cut herself off and took a deep breath, but when her eyes opened again they just seemed wider and more manic. “I just..you…” She trailed off with an inarticulate cry of frustration, surprising Carmilla.

Several deep breaths were needed this time, but by the end Perry did seem to have calmed down at least. “I’m glad that Laura will be safe, because having a vampire around a mortal is just asking for trouble.” Perry finally said. “But I am sad for Laura. She’ll miss you.” She looked at the frozen girl with sad eyes.

“I honestly didn’t think I would have to explain this to you, but that’s the way the world works.” Carmilla said condescendingly. “What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to realize that there’s a lot of things you can do that I can’t.” Perry whispered furiously, one hand tugging on her ginger curls. “So don’t talk to me about how the world works, Carmilla.” She turned on her heel and marched towards the door. “And don’t you dare pretend you don’t care about leaving. I haven’t known you for very long, but I doubt you would be in that bed right now if you didn’t care.”

Surprisingly, Carmilla felt a spike of guilt at that. She wasn’t blind. She saw the way Perry hovered just a bit too close to Lafontaine at all times for it to be just a job obligation. Just a bit too close for it to be merely friendly. Perry had a lot more to lose here than Carmilla did and not even half the freedom in pursuing what she wanted.

_‘She can’t even run away, like you can.’_ A tiny voice at back of Carmilla’s mind whispered. She quickly shoved it back in its dark corner. Moving on was not running away. It was just avoiding awkward questions about skin care and healthy lifestyles and the fact that eventually even her best answers would fall short when someone noticed that no amount of beauty cream and super food could keep someone looking this young for decades.

And if she planned never to contact Laura again after this, that was just for the best. Even a friendship with a mortal could be taxing. The aging eventually took a toll on the friendship. It tinged it with resentment or jealousy and eventually it was always the immortal party left standing at a funeral by themselves. Besides, if she looked deep down inside, Carmilla had to admit that friendship would not be enough if she kept in touch with Laura.

An uncomfortably large part of the pale girl wanted to be close to Laura. Not to bite and claim, but just to be there. To have the shorter girl in her arms. Carmilla wanted to lean in and kiss pretty, pink lips and know they wanted to kiss her too.

And no, she was not running from that either. Just distancing herself before it happened. It was for the best.

“Carmilla?” Perry’s voice snapped the vampire out of her musings and she looked up the find the guardian angel standing by the open door. “Are you alright, dear? Where did you go just now?” She asked, concern lacing her voice.

“It’s fine, Ginger Spice.” Carmilla answered gruffly. She shook her head and sighed. The same feeling that had made her climb into this bed now made her want to let Perry know she understood and that was another great reason to leave. A few days with the cupcake and already Carmilla was getting all soft! “I’m sorry that you…Eh…” She trailed off when Perry’s eyes widened with horror. Right, even a mention of it could be bad. “I’m sorry you guardian angels aren’t free to be with someone in that situation. Still, they won’t be your charge forever, right?” She asked, doing her best to see the silver lining. “Maybe it can happen eventually.”

Perry’s eyes remained worryingly wide for a while, but with surprise now rather than horror. Eventually the shock seemed to wear off and a sad, wistful smile tugged at her lips as she looked at her feet. “I honestly don’t know. There is still the potential of getting too hung up on one mortal to care for the one you’re supposed to.” She muttered, tucking a few unruly curls behind her ear. “Of course I have no experience with this but, if I was in a situation like that, I think I would hope my charge would need to be protected forever so I could always be there for them. Not in the way I’d want to, but in the best way I could.” She looked up at Carmilla sheepishly. “Does that make me a terrible person?” Perry asked.

Carmilla let out a laugh. “Curly Sue, speaking as an actual terrible person, you’re not even close.” She lounged on the bed as best she could while slightly trapped under Laura’s frozen form. “You’re still firmly in the goody two-shoes club.” Still, she could not help but feel a bit surprised. When this whole thing began she certainly would not have seen herself not only having midnight talks with Perry, but actually respecting the redhead’s resolve a little. Clearly proximity to Laura Hollis was ruining her.

Perry let out a relieved laugh as well. “You say that like there’s something wrong with it.” She fired back with a playful roll of her eyes. “You and Laura could probably stand to spend a bit more time in that club.” Perry continued before she supressed a yawn. “I’d better go. I’ll unfreeze the place when I get to my room.”

Carmilla nodded. She actually felt sleepy now, so the vampire hoped Laura would not immediately fall back into nightmares when time resumed its normal flow. “Maybe next time you want to talk, maybe just pick the right moment instead of messing with the fundamental nature of time and space?”

“Oh hush, it’s fine.” The way Perry rolled her eyes was a lot less playful this time. “I’ll see you tomorrow when we go meet Kirsch.” She stepped through the door and pulled it shut behind her. “And thank you, Carmilla.” Perry added right before the door closed.

A minute later the eerie feeling of stillness vanished and Carmilla nearly jumped out of her skin when Laura’s formerly frozen body shifted against her own. She turned and found the journalism major actually breathing slowly and steadily. The furrow in her brow was gone and she seemed relaxed. Almost peaceful.

Gorgeous.

In a way, the need to bite and claim was almost comforting now. At least it was not more than that. Not yet, anyway. She liked Laura, obviously. Carmilla had reached a point where she could admit that to herself, if not to anyone else. However,  as long as things stayed at that level it would be fine. So long as she did not find herself pondering long nights on the couch, dates in all of those fine restaurants the vampire had been too and a warm body curled against her each night, Carmilla was fine.

With a wry smile, she buried her nose in Laura’s hair and closed her eyes as the smell of apples surrounded her. Maybe, Carmilla thought, if she just focused on where she was going to go after all of this she would be able to ignore the little voice at the back of her mind telling her she was entirely fucked and get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was that, Creampuffs?
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed. Be sure to let me know what you think, even if there was something you weren't so fond of. It all helps! For those of you [on Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sirprizex), be sure to stop in and say hi!
> 
> This was a bit of a weird one to write and I didn't expect it to be.
> 
> I expected it to be frustrating, because there is a lot of stuff in the coming chapters that I have had in mind and that I have wanted to get to pretty much since I started writing this fic. However, this chapter was going to be have to be the bridging chapter that actually gets the characters there and I had a general idea of what had to happen and how I wanted to do it, but it just wasn't getting there.
> 
> Anyway, a lot of writing and cutting and rewriting later I wound up with a fic of about 26000 words and a sense of "Wait, how the fuck did that happen?"


	10. The Worst Plan Ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took a bit longer to finish than expected because, unfortunately, smartassducky just go so busy that she didn't have the time to do any proofreading anymore. As such, I had to find someone else to point out all the spots where my brain died, and this chapter has been proofread by the wonderful niallmccfanfic. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy reading, Creampuffs!

The plan worked. In fact, it worked better than Carmilla had intended. She slept deeply and her dreams were a confusing, disjointed mess of scenes taking place in the French countryside. Carmilla was in an orchard and the sun was shining brightly, but everything not in her direct line of sight was blurry and unclear like things so often are in dreams.

There was a basket dangling from her arm and the vampire was picking apples with a smile. This was very strange since Carmilla had a fair few things she enjoyed and manual labour absolutely was not one of them. Maybe it had something to do with the person who was with her, though. Vague and blurry as they were, the other person in her dream was clearly female and they held Carmilla’s hand with a tenderness that made her chest ache.

The girl’s beautiful laughter seemed to echo between the trees and she pulled Carmilla closer, wrapping an arm around her waist. “See? And you wanted to stay inside,” she said.

Carmilla knew that she should have been able to recognize the voice or even explain the colour of this girl’s eyes, but it was like every time she looked at her face the vampire immediately forgot what she saw. The harder she tried, the more the dream began to fall apart and Carmilla didn’t want that. She wanted to stay here. “I told you, there were _much_ more interesting things we could have done there,” Carmilla heard herself argue playfully.

Her companion grinned and backed Carmilla into a tree. “Oh really?” Warm breath washed over Carmilla’s ear as the girl leaned in. “Who says we need to be indoors for that?” Warmth and desire flared low in Carmilla’s stomach as the girl brushed her long hair over her shoulder, revealing a slender neck that was littered with faded bite marks. “Wake up, Carmilla.”

Carmilla, who had already leaned down with her fangs extended paused and arched a brow at the lovely creature pressed against her. “What?”

“Wake up you useless vampire!”  Suddenly the girl went ice cold and Carmilla jerked awake a second later. In her surprise, she opened her mouth to hiss at whoever had disturbed her, but she stopped when she saw Laura standing at the foot of the bed.

Dressed in a red hoody with a Gryffindor badge on the front and distractingly tight jeans, the journalism major glared at her and threw the blanket she had ripped away at Carmilla’s face. “Finally.”

“What fresh hell is this?” Carmilla just flopped back on the bed and groaned. When she looked around, she saw Lafontaine and Perry badly hiding their amusement in the corner. “Great, straight from a dream into a nightmare,” she drawled, rubbing her face. She couldn’t even remember what the dream had been about. Something with apples, at least. All she knew was that it had been a very nice one. “You know, Cupcake, there are many ways to wake a girl up when she sleeps in your bed. I can’t say I’m a fan of this one.”

“Lovely to see you too,” Lafontaine said with a smirk. “Here I thought you would have been more energetic after sucking Frosh dry. You slept through most of the day.”

“First of all, I clearly didn’t suck her dry. Do you know how many calories that would be with how much sugar she inhales?” Carmilla replied and she ignored Laura’s offended yelp as she turned her head to look at Laura’s alarm and saw it was about 2pm. _‘Had I known the room would be filled with gingers, I would have kept sleeping,’_ she thought.

“Hang on, you can gain weight?” the ginger biology major asked, eyeing Carmilla with an almost disturbing level of interest, “Is it only blood that makes that happen? Is it other stuff too?” To Carmilla’s muted horror, Lafontaine actually pulled out a small notebook and began to scribble in it. “If Laura ate nothing but kale and whatever junk passes for super food now and you bit her, would you lose the weight, or would you become like super healthy by vampire standards?”

“Oh, that is _so_ not happening.” Laura crossed her arms and frowned at her friend. “Laf, I am not subjecting myself to the devil’s lettuce just so you can prod Carmilla for science.”

Blatantly ignoring the honey-blonde girl, the redhead continued without even looking up from the notebook and asked, “what qualifies as super healthy by vampire standards anyway? Can you detect diseases when you bite someone? Can diseased blood make you ill or-?”

“Frankenginger, you have exactly five seconds to put that thing away before I shove it somewhere it was not meant to fit,” Carmilla snarled, rubbing the point on her forehead where she could feel a migraine building. It was way, way too early for this. “Consider if you actually want me to answer any of those, because I will bite you for each answered question.”

The ginger was at least smart enough to quickly put the notebook away, but it was apparent to anyone that Lafontaine was still weighing the pros and cons of that offer until Perry grabbed their arm. “Su-I mean, ugh. This would be so much easier if I could just bust out your full name.” A soon as the words left her mouth, Perry’s eyes widened. “Oh, no! I-I didn’t mean- “

“Perr, it’s fine,” Lafontaine assured her with a sickeningly sappy smile. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” They patted their fellow ginger’s hand and laughed. “You’re just trying to threaten me for the sake of my own health. Again. The middle name is still fine, I promise.”

“Right, yes,” Perry stammered, eyes darting between her charge and the floor as her cheeks coloured. “I should probably get back to that.” She took a deep breath and raised herself to her full height, though her expression was about as hard as a marshmallow this time. “NameIwon’tuse Alex Lafontaine! Don’t you even dare consider letting yourself get bitten by a vampire for some research!”

“Aw, but Perr,” the biology major whined only partially playfully. “Frosh wouldn’t let me take samples while Carmilla slept and we both know she’s literally going to bite my head off if I ask,” they said, gesturing at Carmilla.

“Right. Never sleeping around you again,” Carmilla muttered, glaring at the two redheads. “It’s cute that you seem to think I’d leave it at just biting your head off, though,” she added, flashing her fangs for good measure and drawing a probably worrying amount of satisfaction from the way Lafontaine paled.

“You see?” the redhead asked as they gave Perry a hopeful look. “It would only be like three bites to get the fundamental questions out of the way.” They paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, before they added,“Five at most.”

“There will be no biting at all. Nobody will bite anyone.” Perry’s voice began to rise in pitch as she grew more frantic.

Carmilla saw Laura blush from the corner of her eye and grinned. With an angelic expression, the vampire raised a hand. “I would just like to make it clear that I have _no_ intention of sticking to that rule,” she said earnestly. When Laura spluttered, she turned to the cupcake and winked.

Honestly, it was probably best for all involved if she could keep from biting Laura again, but the cupcake did not need to know that.

The blush lighting up Laura’s cheeks could have guided wayward ships home and Carmilla revelled in it, but the two gingers were still caught up in trying to work out how many bites would be acceptable. Kind counterintuitive really, since all it was doing was inspiring Carmilla to bite them both just to shut them up.

“I said no biting!” Perry snapped as she reached out and shook Lafontaine. “Zero biting! I swear if there is any biting I…I…” she stammered and wide eyes darted back and forth as she tried to think of an adequate threat. “I’ll mess up your DVD collection!”

Perry seemed very happy with that threat, but Lafontaine mostly just seemed confused. “But it’s already…” they trailed off and gave Perry a quizzical look. “Wait, did you organize my DVD collection?”

The stare that earned Lafontaine could have cut through glass. “Uuuuugh!” Perry groaned with sheer frustration before she threw her hands up. “Yes! By alphabet and date of release, not that you noticed!” The curly redhead’s voice was quickly reaching a pitch that was actually hurting Carmilla’s ears.

“Okay that’s, eh, wow.” Lafontaine rubbed the back of her head, lips twitching as they tried not to laugh at their friend. “That’s nice, Perr. I think you need to calm down a bit, okay?” They wrapped an arm around their fellow redhead’s shoulders. “Deep breaths. Be the leaf in the stream and all of that nonsense,” Lafontaine muttered. They rubbed Perry’s back until she relaxed, and it seemed less like her eyeballs would fire out of her skull from sheer stress.

“No biting, I promise,” the ginger scientist sighed ruefully as Perry relaxed into them. “Geez, I’m trying to revolutionize our understanding of the world here, you know?” they grumbled with a fond smile.

Perry scoffed. “Weirdo,” she muttered, resting her head on her charge’s shoulders.

“Control freak,” Lafontaine fired back without missing a beat.

Carmilla rolled her eyes and looked to Laura. The younger girl wore a smile broad enough to split her face and just generally seemed like it was taking her an immense amount of effort to keep from squealing.

“So can anyone tell me the purpose of this rude awaking or were you under the impression that I was just aching to deal with your…sparkling personalities?” Carmilla asked, very quickly growing tired of the whole saccharine display. If Perry was under such close scrutiny, it was a freaking miracle that she had not been put under investigation yet.

“Oh, because you’re always a joy to be around,” Laura snorted sarcastically. She made her way to the sink and reached into the fridge. “I tried to wake you up this morning, but you sleep like the dead.” She came back up holding a bottle of grape soda and wearing a pensive frown and added, “Which I suppose, makes sense, but that’s not the point. We’re meeting Kirsch at Burger King in an hour.”

“Right, the meathead,” Carmilla sighed as she hoisted herself out of bed with great reluctance. “Have I mentioned that this is a terrible idea?” Leave it to Laura and the ginger squad to take far too long to decide they could not speak to the police only to then devise a plan that involved speaking to a member of the police.

“No, you’ve been a beacon of support,” Lafontaine drawled with a dose of sarcasm Carmilla could almost respect. They finally disentangled themselves from Perry and turned to smirk at Carmilla. “You’ve also provided no better ideas, so we’re going with this one,” the ginger biology major said as they crossed their arms with a smile that was much too smug considering how much this plan sucked.

“I did, it’s just that none of you would agree to move to Greece because of families and school and blah, blah, blah,” Carmilla grunted as she reluctantly climbed out of Laura’s bed and began digging through her duffel bag.

“There’s also the fact that nobody here speaks Greek and I want to investigate the…supernatural…whoa…” Lafontaine’s voice trailed off as Carmilla threw off her shirt. The pale girl could feel the ginger’s eyes burning a hole into her back as she searched for a new shirt and a bra deliberately slowly until Perry huffed and physically turned Lafontaine around. Carmilla chuckled softly and smirked at the irate guardian angel.

Just when the vampire found something to wear she heard a high-pitched squeak, shortly followed by a thump and a splashing sound. Carmilla instinctively covered her breasts with her arm and turned just enough to look over her shoulder. A red-faced Laura stood next to a dark puddle, holding a dented and stained carton of chocolate milk. Her eyes weren’t on the spreading puddle that was drawing ever closer to her socks, though. They were locked on Carmilla’s back and shining with something she couldn’t quite identify.  They were dark though, and _that_ Carmilla saw all too clearly.

“Oh, Laura,” Perry sighed, though the look on her face was one of a strange kind of joy. “Be more careful.”

“Sorry, Perry,” Laura muttered, not even looking at Perry or attempting to stop her when the curly-haired redhead eagerly began to clean up the spill.

Quite enjoying the ego boost after just waking up, Carmilla winked at Laura before she resumed getting dressed. As slowly as she could get away with. The part of Carmilla that enjoyed Laura’s eyes tacking in her every move urged her to just have the cupcake once. To just get it out of her system. Thankfully, a more rational part remembered that this was the same line of thinking she had followed when Carmilla had decided to just get it over with and bite Laura. That had been great, but it had certainly left her wanting more and that could not happen when it came to this.

More could mean feelings. The whole point of leaving was to avoid feelings. With a sigh, Carmilla slipped a new shirt over her head. “Well, let’s get started then. The sooner we can get this ‘plan’ underway, the better.”

Kirsch, as it turned out, was exactly as unbearable as Laura’s stories had made him out to be. Though clearly still distraught about his missing girlfriend, he was loud and thoughtless and almost aggressively dudebro-ish. Laura seemed convinced that there was a sweet interior under all of that, but Carmilla just could not see it and she wasn’t ready to rule out Stockholm Syndrome as one of the reasons that Laura apparently did.

To the meathead’s credit though, he did stay quiet and listened as Laura laid out everything that had happened in the past few days and what they had found out. Everything from the runes to Carmilla’s involvement and of course the magically inclined members of the police force and clearly magical nature of the chief’s blood.

After Laura finished her story, Kirsch went very quiet and looked down at his fifth cheeseburger thoughtfully. “No,” he finally muttered before he looked up at Laura with pitifully desperate eyes. “Little nerd, I know you’ve got evidence and all, but I just…”  he shook his head ruefully. “The other officers, they’re my bros, you know? Better bros than the Zetas ever were. And the chief is the best. I’ve never met anyone who cares as much as he does, except maybe you, little nerd.”

“If you’re comparing them to the Zetas, that’s kind of a low bar,” Lafontaine muttered with a wry smile which vanished almost immediately when Kirsch gave them a wounded look. “No, I-Kirsch, that’s not what I meant.”

“I know some of them turned out to be jerks before I became a cop,” he said, eyes pleading as he looked at all of them in turn. “But there’s good guys in the Zetas. Real bros. They’re not all like that.”

“Oh, honey, we know,” Perry cooed in a mothering tone. She rested a hand on his arm and smiled at him. “It’s just that the Zetas lost a really good one when you graduated, Kirsch,” Perry said, “I hope they know that.”

“And hey, maybe it’ll be the same thing here,” Laura said with an encouraging smile worthy of a Disney princess. “We know some of them are bad, but if you believe in them, then I’m sure there are at least some good guys. That’s what we’re trying to find out.” She took his large hand in her own.

“Yeah, Dude,” Lafontaine jumped in with a friendly punch to Kirsch’s shoulder and a grin. “If you say they’re good bros, we know they’re probably great.” They beamed when he gave them a thankful smile. “It’s probably just a few bad apples, just like with the Zetas.”

The barrage of positivity soon cheered Kirsch up, but then Carmilla decided to chip in. “Maybe,” she commented as she absently devoured half of Laura’s fries. “Or, unlike officer Brostein’s fraternity, most of the police force is a cult sacrificing victims to whatever foul creature they worship for power,” Carmilla said dryly and looked around the table. “Does anyone have a sauce package?” Of course nobody could be bothered to actually pass the sauce. All she got was three furious looks and one so wounded and horrified that she almost felt bad for the meathead. Almost.

Laura let go of Kirsch’s hand to slap the older girl on the shoulder. “What is wrong with you?” she demanded shrilly.

“So many things, Cupcake,” Carmilla replied with a shrug. It wasn’t her fault if the vampire with more than three centuries under her belt was the only one who had mastered the subtle art of being realistic.

The meathead looked down at his cheeseburger again, but this time when he looked up, he seemed determined. “Alright, let’s go.” He finished his burger in two bites and Carmilla would have said that was biologically impossible had she not just watched it happen. Kirsch stood up and looked down at the group. “Can you do it right now? A lot of people are out of the station for work and stuff.”

Laura blinked in surprise but then grinned and jumped up as well. “Seriously? Kirsch, thank you! That’s perfect!” She turned to Lafontaine, almost quivering with excitement. “Laf, can you? I don’t know if you need to prepare for this or get, like, an SD card with some super hacker program or do you need to mess with the modem or something, but-“

Lafontaine meanwhile was still stuck looking at the few crumbs that remained of Kirsch’s burger with a look of mesmerized disgust which, Carmilla knew, had to be mirrored on her own face. Thankfully they snapped out of it just in time to stop the excited word vomit spilling from Laura’s mouth. “Frosh, whoa! Stop,” they said, holding up their hands with a bemused grin. “Or at least watch less bad sci-fi hacker movies. I’m good. If Kirsch’s computer at the station and the cameras are on the same network, I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, then let’s go, let’s go,” Laura said, hauling Carmilla to her feet. She ushered the group to Perry’s car. Of course, with Perry behind the wheel, following Kirsch back to the station proved to be much harder than it should have been.

“I can barely see his car,” Lafontaine said, squinting at the police cruiser in the distance. “Perr, you really need to catch up.” They turned to their friend with a pleading look. “I know you’re all about safety, but this is kind of urgent.”

Perry was unmoved. Her iron grip on the wheel never wavered from its position at ten and two o’clock as she followed Kirsch. “Yes, and so I’m making sure we don’t get arrested before we get to the station. There’s nothing wrong with observing the speed limit,” she said tersely.

Laf slumped in her seat and arched a brow. “The one you’re currently under by like ten miles per hour, you mean?”

In an effort to ignore the meaningless bickering, Carmilla turned to watch Laura. The blonde’s hands were tightly gripping her knees and her back was straight as she breathed in and out deeply. Carmilla allowed herself a brief moment to appreciate the sight before she nudged the much younger girl. “Cupcake, I’m a big fan of sleep, but this might not be the right time.”

Pretty, brown eyes opened and glanced at her before they rolled in their sockets, playful amusement sparkling in their depths. “I thought you’d enjoy me being quiet for once,” she teased, a smirk tugging at her lips.

Carmilla matched Laura’s eye roll and pointedly looked at the front of the car, where the bickering continued uninterrupted. Honestly, it was like it was foreplay to those idiots. And of course now she had devoted precious time and headspace that she could never reclaim to thinking about the ginger twins having sex. Gross.

Laura seemed to see her point and giggled softly. “Ah, well, you get used to that,” she said. The fact that Carmilla tried to convey without words that she had no intention of getting used to it was lost on Laura or ignored as the journalism major continued, “I was trying to calm down a bit and I can’t do yoga here, you know?”

“That would be something to see.” Carmilla forced out a laugh and did her best not to look down at Laura’s legs. Watching the blonde prance around in yoga pants and bending in ways Carmilla was certain she could make great use of had been almost as taxing on her self-control as watching Laura walk to and from the bathroom entirely naked while Carmilla was posing as her cat.

“It just feels like we’re _finally_ getting somewhere,” Laura muttered as she relaxed into her seat, a bright smile on her face. “Every time we seemed to hit a dead end and I was starting to worry we would never be able to help these girls,” she admitted. After a beat of silence, she turned to Carmilla and this time her smile was nothing short of smug. “Guess this isn’t such a terrible plan after all, huh?”

Carmilla laughed and shook her head, unable to stop a fond smile from spreading over her face. You had to appreciate the confidence, even if it was born from a tendency to ignore reality. “Oh no, this is still a terrible plan, Cupcake, “ she argued. Carmilla’s smile only grew wider when Laura’s smile turned into a pout. “You realize this is where the dangerous part starts, right?”

“Yeah, no, I know,” Laura muttered. She shot a guilty, worried look at the two oblivious gingers in the front and the previously playful facetious suddenly seemed a lot more serious.

Carmilla sighed and leaned over, gently knocking their shoulders together. “Hey, come on,” she said with what she hoped was an encouraging smile, “that’s what I’m here for, right? The vampiric meat shield.” Carmilla laughed softly. “Or did you have another reason you wanted me along?”

Laura still seemed a little hesitant, but a smile pulled at her lips. “Thank you, Carmilla.” Her voice was heavy with genuine gratitude. Part of Carmilla felt great about that, but a much bigger part just felt uncomfortable to be on the receiving end of it and she was almost relieved when Laura’s smile turned teasing. “And you’re right. We mostly brought you to block bullets.” The honey-blonde girl leaned a little closer. “I mean, what else were we going to do with the useless vampire?” she asked.

Carmilla had a perfectly innocent and snarky reply ready, but then Laura’s eyes dropped to look at her lips and the beautiful brown pools seemed to darken. It was a bad idea. Carmilla _knew_ it was a bad idea. Yet, despite that, there was a sudden sense of anticipation between them and her mouth opened before the vampire could stop herself. “I’m sure you could think of a few things,” she breathed, voice low and husky.

Carmilla did not fail to see Laura shiver, nor did she fail to see the blush, or the way the blonde’s pupils dilated. She did, however, fail to notice that the car had stopped until Lafontaine threw their door open. “Come on, Kirsch is already inside!” they called as they stepped out.

Both Laura and Carmilla jumped and the shorter girl let out an anxious huff. “Oh, right! Yes. The plan.” She shook her head frantically and grabbed her back. “Come on Carm. Time to rob the police,” Laura said cheerfully before she darted forward and pecked Carmilla on the cheek. She then jumped out of the car as if the world had not ground to a halt for the vampire.

Through sheer force of will, Carmilla managed to restrain herself from touching the spot where Laura’s lips had been mere seconds ago. It was warm, almost as if Laura had left a small ember smouldering just underneath Carmilla’s skin. The sort of warmth that didn’t come from a merely physical sort of attraction.

“Don’t you have a charge to protect?” Perry’s voice cut through Carmilla’s stunned haze like a knife. An annoying, neurotic, obnoxiously ginger knife. The pale girl glared at the redhead and threw open her door. “Shouldn’t you be hovering over your fellow ginger?” she fired back as she got out.

When they joined Laura and Lafontaine, the biology major was already set up behind a desk and fervently working on something at the computer there. Laura was looking around the room like a meerkat on caffeine. Carmilla couldn’t really blame her, since the woman sitting behind the front desk with her arm in a sling bore a striking resemblance to the one she had nearly mauled for trying to get into Laura’s dorm.

Apparently, her discomfort was obvious even to a dimwit like Kirsch. He stuck close by Laura, almost shoulder to shoulder, and shot some his colleagues challenging looks every now and then. Though she had no intention of admitting this, Carmilla almost found it endearing. “So, has the ginger hacked the planet yet?” Carmilla asked as she joined them.

“I’ve got access to the cameras, but it’s going to be a bit longer.” Lafontaine answered, not looking up from the screen as they clicked through window after window. “Once I do, I can delete the footage of us hanging around here.” They looked at Laura. “That way, you guys can look for the knife and nobody will-shit.” Hissing expletives under their breath, Lafontaine smashed a few keys and the many windows quickly minimized just before a familiar voice spoke up.

“Miss Hollis. What brings you and Miss Karnstein here?”  Carmilla turned and found detective McCoy smiling politely at her. Unlike their previous meetings, he was dressed casually in a polo shirt and jeans and his blonde hair looked windswept and messy.

Kirsch shot up. “Detective, what are you doing here?” he asked, surprised. “Isn’t it your day off?”

“It is. I just came in to talk to dad for a second,” the detective answered with a shrug before he turned his attention to Laura. “Little did I know we were getting a visit from the local intrepid reporter-to-be,” He added with a grin, “and her friends, apparently. Hello, Alexander McCoy.” He reached out to shake Perry’s hand.

The curly-haired redhead gave him a nervous smile. “Lola Perry. Lovely to meet you, sir.” She put a hand on Lafontaine’s shoulder. “And this is Lafontaine.”

“Hey. Nice to meet you,” they said with a thin smile utterly unlike their usual grin. It was only then that Carmilla noticed that Lafontaine had taken the distraction as a chance to open a few random system folders and at least make themselves look busy. “Hope you don’t mind, but Kirsch had some trouble with his PC and it was taking forever to get some support. Figured I could fix it just as easily.”

McCoy frowned a bit. “And you needed a support team for that?” he asked, shooting the three girls trying do their best to seem innocent a curious glance.

“Oh, we just decided to tag along,” Laura quickly jumped in. “Kirsch is a friend, so I figured we could see how he was holding up, you know?” She reached up to pat the much taller officer on the shoulder.

McCoy looked from Laura to Kirsch and his expression softened. “Of course. I’m glad you’re checking up on him,” he said with a tone of understanding. “Well, if you can vouch for them, I suppose its fine Kirsch. Just don’t let them copy anything and don’t let dad see, alright?”

“Of course, detective.” Kirsch was quick to agree, nodding so rapidly Carmilla almost thought his head would fall off. “Little nerd is the best. A real lady-bro. She helped me pass English Lit.” He then turned to Lafontaine and slapped them on the back hard enough to almost knock them out of the desk chair and said, “And science nerd here is awesome too. You should see their gaming set-up!”

“Really now?” the detective asked with a grin. “Playstation or Xbox?” His tone belied the importance of the question.

Lafontaine sniffed haughtily. “Please, Playstation and a Switch when I can finally afford it,” they answered like it was entirely obvious.

“If we get busted because Ginger #2 had to talk shop with the resident nerds,” Carmilla whispered to Laura with a roll of her eyes, “that set-up is going somewhere they really don’t want it to be.” Laura let out a soft, amused snort but quickly followed it up with an admonishing smack.

McCoy meanwhile let out a theatrical sigh. “And just when I thought you had some potential,” he laughed and shook his head. “Well, it’s been lovely meeting you guys, but I really should go talk to dad and leave you to it.” He looked around and raised a brow. “He is in, right?”

Kirsch frowned and looked at a closed door near the back. “The chief? Yeah, but all he’s done is walk from his office to the evidence room and back. He hasn’t really said hey to anyone all day.”

Some of the detective’s good humour seemed to fade and he shook his head. “Ah. Well, don’t worry Kirsch. He always gets like that around this time of year.” He stepped around Kirsch and gave the group a wave. “I’ll talk to him.”

As the detective made his way to his father’s office, Laura rounded on a suddenly distraught-looking Kirsch. “This time of year? What did he mean?” she asked in barely hushed tones.

“The detective is not the chief’s only kid,” the meathead answered as he watched the blonde man walk into his father’s office. “Or at least he wasn’t. Years ago, somebody broke into the chief’s house. Things got violent and his daughter was shot.” Kirsch’s hands balled into fists. “Some people just…I don’t know…”

They all stood in silence for a while, Laura doing her best to comfort Kirsch as he pressed her hand to his broad shoulders. After a few minutes however, she turned to the group with renewed determination. "Okay, so can we still be sure it’s the chief?” she asked in an urgent whisper. “I mean, it basically has to be, right? Even if he did experience something like that.”

“No it doesn’t,” Carmilla scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

“Carmilla…” Laura sighed tiredly, “you know I’m right.” Her tone was exasperated and more than a little infuriating.

“Cupcake, just because the chief might not be human and you’ve got no better suspects that doesn’t mean he’s guilty by default.” Carmilla crossed her arms and glared at the shorter girl. She honestly didn’t know why Laura was so eager to throw out other options. “Wasn’t that what this half-baked plan was supposed to do? Prove his guilt? Besides, aren’t you supposed to be on the side of the man with the sob story?”

Laura returned the glare, though it didn’t seem angry. It was…well…Carmilla honestly had trouble making out the emotion on Laura’s face. “Excuse me if I feel slightly biased after being hounded by mages and then learning that there is something not exactly normal about the police chief,” she hissed, stepping into Carmilla’s personal space. “I’m sorry that he lost his daughter, but that doesn’t mean he’s not kidnapping girls now. Maybe he’s trying to fill a void or something.”

Carmilla rolled her eyes, ignoring the shushing motions Perry was making behind Laura’s back. “Or maybe you’re nervous, because you marched yourself into the most likely place to find those mages on a whim when I’m supposed to protect your suicidal ass,” she growled, not backing down an inch. “Has it even occurred to you that keeping you safe is- “

“Done,” Lafontaine cut into their argument. They swivelled around in their chair and frowned at Laura and Carmilla. “The cameras won’t be a problem. Are you going to check out the evidence room or did you want to stay here and see if you can draw a crowd?” They arched a brow challengingly.

Laura eyed Carmilla curiously for a moment, but then she gritted her teeth and she took a step back. “Fine. _Fine._ How will we find it?” she asked Lafontaine tersely.

The redhead glanced at the screen. “It has a tag with the case number on it. MP 44-3C.”

“Great.” Laura grabbed Carmilla’s hand and stormed off. “You’re helping me look and then we’ll see who’s wrong,” she growled in a tone that brooked absolutely no argument. With Kirsch’s key card they opened the evidence room and inside they found several rows of metal racks. On these racks were boxes, folders and even small, bagged items.

Laura strode into the room as if she had every right to be there. She flicked the light switch, but the lightbulb only sputtered and died. “Great,” she muttered as he looked up at it, “they’ve mastered magic, but the art of changing a lightbulb is apparently too much for our police force to handle.”

Carmilla chuckled dryly and stepped around Laura, their shoulders brushing together in the cramped room. “It might be for the best. The less attention we draw, the better,” she said as she began to search the racks for the right tag.

“Yes, well, not everyone can see in the dark,” Laura complained under her breath as she moved to search the racks on the other side of the room. A few minutes passed in tense silence while they searched and all Carmilla found were incriminating letters and emails, items suspected to have been stolen and a  few improvised weapons used in assault cases. If nothing else, it was at least indicative of how little serious crime occurred in this city before the disappearances.

Laura seemed to grow more and more agitated as time passed without success. She started out by carefully picking things up and checking the tags, but by the time she had searched her third rack she was all but throwing things back and causing a damned cacophony. “Cupcake,” Carmilla reached out to caution her, but Laura moved to another rack and ignored the touch to her shoulder. “ _Laura,_ ” Carmilla tried again, hissing as the shorter girl tossed a heavy watch down with a clang.

“Have you found it yet?” was the blonde’s only response. She continued searching as she spoke. “It has to be here. It _has_ to be.”

Carmilla did not like Laura’s tone. It was too unlike her. Too…fragile. She trailed behind the blonde as Laura made her way to a rack near the far side of the room. Not because she was worried, but just because Carmilla had a job to do.

“We’ll go over all of them again,” Laura muttered, heedless of her vampiric shadow. “It can’t just have vanished. It has to be here somewhere.” She picked up a bagged-up knife and for a second she smiled, but then she checked the tag. “43-3C. Shit!” She slammed the knife down hard enough to actually make Carmilla jump this time.

“Okay, enough,” Carmilla growled as she grabbed Laura’s wrist. They were going to get caught at this rate and it was going to be very hard to explain why they were hanging out here. Not quite as hard as getting Laura out unhurt if that didn’t work, though. The thought of Laura getting hurt made Carmilla feel like someone had put an iron vice around her chest and not merely because a bunch of metaphysical bureaucrats had accidentally made Carmilla Laura’s protector. “You’re going to get us caught!” she hissed urgently.

Finally, Laura looked up at Carmilla and the vampire felt her breath catch. The honey-blonde girl’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears and her lower lip had clear indentations where she had been biting it. “It _has_ to be here. Carmilla, it _has_ to be.” Laura’s voice cracked, and it almost sounded like she was pleading with Carmilla. Pleading to make a knife that clearly was not here appear from thin air. And, goddammit, Carmilla could feel her heart breaking because she couldn’t do that.

“Cupcake…” Carmilla sighed. She hesitantly reached up to wipe a few stray tears away and, despite everything, something inside of her grew warm when the touch wasn’t  rejected. “It’s just a knife.”

“And we need it.” Laura let out a desperate, laugh which became a sob before it had even fully left her mouth. “You were right, we have no other leads. It has to be the chief behind all of this, but if we can’t find the knife, then we can’t prove it.” Laura shrugged helplessly. “God, even if we do and it turns out it’s not him we’re basically back to square one because what other suspects do we have? At this point I might as well finger the creepy lady at the library as the killer because I swear she put a curse on me that one time I returned a book six days late and-mmph!”

Carmilla met Laura’s indignant look at having her mouth covered with an arched brow and a pointed look at the door. When Laura had essentially dragged her out of bed that morning, Carmilla had thought the wannabe-journalist had recovered from her nightmares. Clearly the issues weren’t quite that easily conquered.

Carmilla slowly took her hand away and Laura let out a shaky sigh. “What if, after all we’ve done and all of the danger I’ve put everyone in, this doesn’t pan out?” she asked, her entire frame stiff with tension. “What if we can’t find the knife? What if we do and it turns out the chief isn’t involved?” She looked up at Carmilla with big, teary, panicked eyes. “What if I can’t save these girls? I’ve put Laf and Perry at risk and you got saddled with protecting me and-”

“Okay, okay, calm down Cupcake,” Carmilla muttered, her thumb rubbing over the inside of Laura’s wrist in a way she at least hoped was soothing. “You’re panicking, Laura. The first step is to calm down and think, okay? Deep breaths.”

Laura nodded hesitantly and closed her eyes. Very slowly her rapid, shallow breathing began to even out. Carmilla kept rubbing her wrist as it did, the pulse under her thumb still too quick for the vampire’s liking. “None of this is your fault, Cupcake,” she whispered. “We’ll find the knife. If we don’t, we’ll find something else.” Carmilla smiled and nudged the shorter girl softly. “If it turns out that it’s not the chief, we’ll just keep looking until we find the person who is responsible. You seem to be good at stumbling your way into danger, so you’re bound to run into them sooner or later.”

A smile tugged at Laura’s lips and this time the laugh she let out wasn’t tinged with tears or a sob. “God, I so am. Here I thought my dad was paranoid all of these years and now I’ve spent the last two weeks in mortal peril,” she said, shaking her head wryly. “Not sure he’d find the fact that I now have a vampire for a bodyguard comforting, though.”

“He really shouldn’t,” Carmilla chuckled and flashed her fangs. A small measure of relief spread through the pale girl when she saw Laura smile again. “Are you gonna be okay, Creampuff?” Carmilla felt a brief hint of disappointment when Laura’s wrist slipped from her grasp, but it was soon replaced with pleasant warmth when the shorter girl took the vampire’s hand in her own and squeezed softly.

“I-No, not really,” Laura mumbled. “I just… It feels like there is so much riding on this, you know? And if we don’t find anything, I don’t have a plan for what to do next.” She looked up at Carmilla with a weary smile. “It all kind of hit me at once, I guess. And it’s not like I got much sleep and… What’s that?” she trailed off and looked over Carmilla’s shoulder inquisitively.

Carmilla turned and followed Laura’s gaze to the wall at her back. Just beside Carmilla’s shoulder, something seemed to be pulsing with dark-purple light, barely noticeable in the unlit room. She let Laura drag her closer, only then realizing that they were still holding hands.

“It looks like one of those runes,” Laura muttered and leaned in to study it. The small symbol seemed to pulse more quickly the closer she got and when Laura reached out to touch it, it unleashed a bright flash and Laura fell backward with her mouth open in a soundless yelp.

“Laura!” Carmilla barely caught the shorter girl before she hit the ground. To her relief, Laura immediately responded by clinging on to the vampire and gasping for air. _‘At least she’s not unconscious.’_ She thought as she lowered Laura to the floor. “Great idea, Cupcake. Let’s touch the magical rune. What could possibly happen?” she drawled sarcastically to hide her relief.

“I didn’t,” Laura protested weakly as she sat up. “I mean, I was going to,” she had the sense to look guilty when she added that part, at least, “but before I could there was that bright flash and I don’t know what happened. It felt like something was being pulled out of me and then the light went away and I was fine. I mean, falling, but fine. Good catch, by the way.” She awkwardly patted Carmilla’s arm as she spoke.

With a worried frown, Carmilla looked Laura up and down. She did not _seem_ hurt, at least. Her heartbeat was a bit faster than was healthy, but Carmilla was fairly certain that the same would have been true for her if her heart had still functioned.

“Whoa…” Laura gasped.

Carmilla turned to face whatever Laura was looking at and felt her eyebrows jump to her hairline. The wall seemed to ripple and fade away before their eyes like a reflection in water. Behind it lay a much, much larger room. It was sparsely lit with what seemed like orbs of floating light and filled with rows containers of various sizes that stretched off into the distance. Carmilla felt the hair at the back of her neck stand on end as she gazed into the gloom and a feeling of dread settled over her,

So of course, Laura jumped to her feet and marched right on in. “Wha- _Laura!”_ Carmilla called after the blonde as she scrambled to her feet.

“What?” Laura called back indignantly and said, “Who knows what they might be keeping here?” She continued into the dimly lit room and walked towards one of the smaller containers.

“Yeah, my point exactly,” Carmilla grumbled as she followed in Laura’s footsteps. Bad ideas were just pilling on top of bad ideas by this point in the world’s dumbest display of one-upping yourself ever. It was almost as if stealing from the police, who had mages, wasn’t dumb enough by itself, so they just had to go and look behind the room magically hidden behind a wall. “You’re killing me here, Hollis,” she muttered under her breath.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was that then, Creampuffs?
> 
> You ever have a part of a story you really, really want to get to when you're writing it? That one part you knew right from the start you had to include? Well, we're coming up on that part for me. While what happens in it took shape in my mind a bit later (and one character got much more screentime because I wound up liking them), this room was something I've wanted to get to for a long time. At least in part because it signifies that we're drawing closer to the end XD
> 
> Don't worry, it'll still take quite a few chapters to actually get there :)


	11. The Menagerie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Creampuffs!
> 
> Oh my god, an actually fairly quick update for once!
> 
> Yeah, don't get used to it. It's just that these three chapters were kinda written in one sitting. Anyway, as always, glad to see you liked the last chapter. This one's a bit heavy on the exposition, but don't worry, there's plenty we've yet to deal with. Anyway, that's kind of all for now. If you want, come say hi [on Tumblr.](http://sirprizex.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Oh, and of course a shout-out to my wonderful beta reader Niallmccfanfic!
> 
> Now then, Creampuffs, I hope you'll enjoy reading.

When the vampire found her human charge, Laura was crouching down in front of one of the containers and making cooing noises. “Carm, look, they keep dogs here!” she said, gesturing at the container. “The poor guy’s all locked up here. Poor baby.” she cooed and Carmilla sighed as the baby talk began. “I bet you’re a good boy, huh? Who’s a good boy? Who’s a goooood boy? Who’s probably not associated with murderous mages at all? You are. Yes, you are.”

With what had to be a migraine forming, Carmilla joined Laura in front of the container and when she looked at it, she felt her stomach drop to her feet.  These things weren’t containers. They were cages and at least one of them held a very, very big dog.

The black beast was curled up in the centre of his cage, one bright orange eye looking at Laura inquisitively. Its fur seemed to be jet black, but there was something strange about the creature. It filled Carmilla with the same sort of unease she felt whenever she was near someone using magic for nefarious reasons. “Cupcake, I’m not sure that’s the sort of dog that you want to take home.”

“All dogs are the sort of dog you want to take home,” Laura argued with a roll of her eyes. She reached out towards the bars. “Do you want snuggles, pal? Come here and get some snuggles!” she prattled, beaming at the dog. “I bet the mean people who put you in this cage don’t give you snuggles!”

Carmilla was about to interject that she was really more of a cat person when the dog lifted its head and she felt her breath catch. That dog was not a dog. In a blur of unnatural motion that no mortal creature was capable of the beast was on its feet and right at the bars. A mouth filled with far too many teeth and dripping with what looked like liquid, black fire opened horrifically wide as it lunged. The only reason Laura didn’t lose a hand, or her entire arm for that matter, was that a barrier of white energy flared up between the bars and the beast crashed into it snout-first.

For the second time in three minutes, Laura fell on her butt as she tried to scramble away with a panicked yelp. When she had scampered far enough back to hide behind Carmilla’s legs, she peeked around them at the creature with her mouth open wide. “What in  _hell or Hogwarts_ was that?”

Carmilla had frozen halfway through reaching out for Laura when she realized what the beast was, but she had to laugh at the expression on Laura’s face. Nothing like a bit of mortal peril to tickle the funny bone, right? “Hell is right, Cupcake,” Carmilla said, laughing and gesturing at the cage. “I think that is a hellhound.”

As it snarled and paced along the bars, it became very clear that this creature was not a normal dog. Aside from the fact that it was roughly as tall as Laura, its limbs moved in odd and sometimes entirely impossible ways. It was almost as if it wasn’t quite used to them. The hound’s body seemed to flicker and shift like a shadow and every now and then it seemed to vanish entirely and reappear in a different spot. Sizzling filled the air as the liquid fire that dripped from its maw like saliva hit the steel floor of its cage.

“Are you done trying to touch things now?” Carmilla asked. She gave Laura a significant look as she pulled the shorter girl to her feet again. “That’s basically concentrated evil given form, Cupcake. You can’t treat it like a dog,” the vampire cautioned.

The wannabe-reporter brushed some dust off her jeans and frowned. “Oh, we’ll see about that,” Laura muttered darkly before she marched right back up to the cage. “You, mister, are a bad dog. A bad, bad dog!” she yelled, waving a finger threateningly. Naturally, the hellhound immediately tried to snap at her again, only to bounce off the white barrier once more. “Ha! Not so easy is it?!” Laura gloated smugly. “That’s what bad dogs get. Good dogs get snuggles, but bad dogs like you get…I don’t know! Magical imprisonment! Because you are a  _bad_ dog!”

Carmilla groaned despairingly and buried her face in her hands. She honestly wasn’t even sure what was worse, the fact that Laura was trying to intimidate a hunter spawned from the depths of hell or the fact that it appeared to be  _working._

The beast had stopped snarling and sat down and with each new wave of admonishment and cry of “bad dog” it seemed to shrink into itself more and more. That wasn’t intended metaphorically either. The hellhound had actually gotten smaller as Laura berated it and it was now softly whining at her. It was barely the size of a puppy at this point and giving Laura a truly pitiful look.

“Oh no, mister, you’re not getting off that easily!” Laura said, still waving her finger even though it was painfully obvious that she was melting at the sight of the demonic puppy. “I swear, when we come back through here, we are getting you out of that cage and we are taking you to obedience training.”

The slap of Carmilla’s palm against her forehead echoed throughout the room. “Cupcake…” she groaned, shaking her head, “again, concentrated evil given form. Let’s not keep creatures from hell around, okay?”

“I keep you around, don’t I?” Laura argued with a smirk. “Besides, he’s cute,” she gestured at the dog and then suddenly her eyes widened guiltily. “Eh, not that you’re not cute! I mean, crap, that sounds really demeaning. I mean, you are, though. But I guess gorgeous is more fitting and oh god I’m still talking. Hey look, those orb thingies seem like they’re lighting up a path, let’s go look at that!” Red in the face and tripping over her own feet, Laura rushed away.

Carmilla sighed and shook her head, watching the girl walk away. “Unbelievable,” she muttered, bemused. A yip drew her attention back to the cage and she watched the hellhound puppy place its paws against the bars and wag its tail as it looked at her. “Don’t you start,” She groaned before she followed Laura.

Her good mood didn’t last long though. When Carmilla caught up with Laura, the girl’s face was ashen and it wasn’t hard to figure out why. This hidden room was basically a demonical menagerie. Almost every single cage held some form of demon or abyssal creature. The selection ranged from more hellhounds to formless phantoms and towering creatures made of animated, smouldering stone.

“What is all of this?” Laura asked. She looked as if she was simultaneously trying to walk bravely upright and hunch over to avoid drawing attention as she eyed the many cages. “Why are they here? How did they get here?”

Carmilla grunted, her shoulders tense and her fangs extended as she followed Laura. The air of unease and malice coming from the caged demons was putting her on edge and she was one bad sign away from throwing Laura over her shoulder and marching back out. “I skimmed my mother’s book a few times over the years. There are a lot of things mages can summon, Cupcake,” Carmilla muttered darkly. Why anyone would subject themselves to this many different contracts was less clear, though.

They turned a corner and came across yet more cages, but one of them was different this time. There was a crumpled form in the corner and a body wrapped in a cocoon of silver light floating in the very centre. “Oh my god, SJ!” Laura ran off towards the cage and pressed her face against the bars, calling out frantically. “SJ! It’s me, Laura! Can you hear me?”

Carmilla winced when she saw the girl. SJ’s face was a mask of discomfort. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, her eyes tightly closed and her brow furrowed. A bloody bandage was wrapped around the stump where the girl’s hand should have been, and her body seemed entirely frozen in its unconscious state.

“Sarah Jane!” Laura tried again, rattling the bars. The floating girl once again did not reply, but someone behind them did.

“Could you please keep it down?” A smooth, honeyed voice coming from the opposite cage asked. Laura and Carmilla span around to see a tall, curvy and entirely naked woman come strutting out of the darkness of her cage. Carmilla felt a sharp spike of lust shoot through her body and it was soon followed by a bolt of dread when she noticed the woman’s overly red skin and the horns that grew out of her temples and curved back along her skull. A long, spade-tipped tail swished back and forth with her every step.

Carmilla nudged Laura to get the girl to stop her open-mouthed staring for a moment and the blonde struggled to find a spot to look at as she addressed the naked woman. “Eh, h-hello?” Laura stammered with the sort of blush only Carmilla had been able to bring to her face.

The vampire instantly found herself disliking this woman. For entirely unrelated reasons.

“Hello,” the woman purred. She leaned against the bars in a way that could not be comfortable but certainly displayed all of her best assets very well. She didn’t even blink when the barrier flared up between the bars. “Could you not wake her up, pretty girl? This is the first real sleep she’s had in so long,” she asked, her voice low and husky and her plump lips pressed together in a pout.

“So, we  _can_ wake her up?” Carmilla asked, trying her best to pretend she was having less difficulty than Laura with keeping her eyes away from the woman’s body. “Since you’re in this cage, I’m guessing the light show around sleeping bleedy isn’t you trying to suck out her soul, then?” She gestured at the injured girl floating in the middle of the cage.

The woman cast a bored glance at SJ and shrugged. “Oh, her?” All traces of seduction were instantly gone from her voice and replaced with a strong Irish accent. “No that’s not me, love. I’ve got like a tenth of me powers at most in this bloody box.” She looked crossed her arms and frowned at Carmilla. “Besides, I find that remark offensive. Us succubi are about more than just devouring souls, you know? I’m even on a soul free diet.” A second later she doubled over as she sneezed loudly.

“Wait, what?!” Laura blurted, utterly baffled. Her hands rose to massage her temples. “Okay, hang on. You’re a succubus,” she pointed at the woman, “but that’s not you trying to eat SJ’s soul.” She pointed at the glow around the girl in question. “Because you barely have any power in that cage and you’re on…what the hell is a soul-free diet?!” The vertically challenged blonde cried, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

“Exactly what it sounds like,” the succubus answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I haven’t eaten a soul in five years. Just good old, healthy sexual energy for me.” She looked Laura up and down and pointedly licked her lips. “I might make an exception for you, though. You’ve got a very pretty soul.”

Laura paled a little and took a step back. “I, eh, thanks but no thanks?” she squeaked, looking to Carmilla for help.

“Aw, don’t you even want to try?” the succubus whined. A wicked grin spread across her face and once again a seductive purr replaced the lilting tones of her accent. “Won’t you let me tease you until you just can’t take it anymore?” The creature trailed her fingers down her own stomach and let out a dreamy sigh as they drew closer to the space between her legs. “Until all you want is for me to take everything you are and- “

The crash of Carmilla’s hand against the bars made both Laura and the succubus jump, and the dark-haired woman blinked owlishly at the pissed off vampire. She gave Carmilla a calculating look. “Would it help if I took your soul too so you two could keep whatever’s going on- “

She quickly dropped the topic when Carmilla growled. “Right, right! Point taken! Sorry!” the succubus squeaked, shrinking back a bit from Carmilla. “Just please stop making noise. You’re gonna wake her up.”

“I’ve been awake for ten minutes, Nox.”

Carmilla turned back to the cage SJ was floating in. The crumpled form in the corner was stirring and brushing disheveled, blonde hair out of their face.  “Pretty impossible to sleep through that,” they croaked, voice heavy with exhaustion.

“Oh crapsticks, Betty!” Laura ran over and dropped to her knees in front of the older girl. “I’m so glad you’re still alright!” she cried with tears of relief shining in her eyes. “I was  _so_ worried we wouldn’t make it in time. Are you hurt?” She tried to reach out to Betty, but the same barrier that kept the captives in also kept everything else out. “Crap, don’t worry, we’ll have you out of here soon enough.”

Betty, meanwhile, just gave Laura a nonplussed look. “Yeah, that’s…great,” She said, tilting her head inquisitively. “Do I know you?”

“Oh, right, sorry!” Laura blushed and gestured at Carmilla and herself. “You don’t know us, but we’ve been looking into the disappearing girls. That’s Carmilla, a vampire, and I’m Laura Hollis.”

“A pain in my ass,” Carmilla quipped with a grin.

“She also thinks she’s funny,” Laura muttered, throwing Carmilla a dirty look. “I’m just, you know, human. I should probably make sure you know that with all of the demons around here.”

The succubus meanwhile walked to the side, so she had a better view of the caged blonde. “Sorry, love.” Her voice had once again dropped the purr and genuine affection now laced her Irish lilt. “I told them to be quiet. Did you sleep alright?”

Betty scoffed and shook her head. “I slept on the steel floor of a cage and there’s still no fucking coffee, so no, Nox.” She looked over Laura’s head at the demon in the opposite cage. The sour look on Betty’s face made way for a small smile and she placed her hand against the bars. “Hey, baby.”

The succubus copied the blonde’s motion, along with a smile of her own. “Hey, lovely.”

The two stared at each other for just long enough for the entire thing to become uncomfortable and finally Carmilla pointedly cleared her throat.  _‘Oh great, I wandered on to the set of a supernatural dating show.’_ She thought when the demon and the blonde both gave her a sheepish glance.

Betty recovered quickly and turned to Laura. “So, what? You’re supposed to be my rescue?” she asked, sceptically. When the shorter blonde nodded eagerly, Betty looked her up and down for a moment. She then leaned back against the bar and let out a dry laugh. “Okay, so I knew I was screwed, but I didn’t realize I was completely  _fucked._ ”

“Hey!” Laura yelped, indignation written all over her face. “I’m sorry we don’t match up to your lofty expectations, but what  _were_  you expecting anyway?” she asked, crossing her arms

“I don’t know. Someone taller, more muscular and certainly a lot more heavily armed,” Betty scoffed. “Given that I seem to be surrounded by magical creatures, I’d take Harry fucking Potter by this point.” She gestured at the cages surrounding her own.

“Well, we’re all you have, so deal with it,” Laura huffed. She tried looking at the rest of the enclosure. “There was another girl who went missing recently. Have you seen her? Is she in a different cage?”

That wiped the haughty look from Betty’s face. Pain flashed in her eyes for a moment before they dropped to the floor and stayed there. “She’s...Her name was Kim…They took her. She’s gone,” she muttered after a few beats of heavy, oppressive silence.

“Oh.” Laura looked down as well, biting her lip and her hands curled into fists. “I’m so sorry.” Her voice cracked as she spoke.

Betty looked up with a strange expression. She eyed Laura warily, almost comically confused and uncomfortable with the genuine guilt in Laura’s expression. Finally, she let out a sigh and said, “Don’t be an idiot, Hollis. It’s a miracle you two found this place at all.” With a grunt of effort, she stood up. “So, if you are busting me out, how much do you know about what’s going on?”

Laura cleared her throat before she spoke. Her eyes were still misty. “Not much. We know part of the police force knows magic and they have been kidnapping girls for some reason. We don’t know how or why.”

Betty made a thoughtful noise and nodded. “Well, I can tell you the how. They’ve been using these creatures.” She gestured at the various cages. “At least, they did with me. I was having fun with a girl at a party and the last thing I remember is walking to my car and noticing she suddenly had fox ears and a tail,” Betty recalled, scowling. “Next thing I knew, I woke up here. I think your friend had a less friendly invitation.” She glanced at SJ with a worried frown before she turned to the succubus in the opposite cage. “Nox can tell you about the why.”

The succubus crossed her arms and shook her head with a petulant expression. ”Nuh-uh,” she said. “Bets, you know what happens and you know I don’t like it.” 

To Carmilla’s surprise, Betty actually pouted at the succubus. “Please Noxuli?”  the blonde asked in a much sweeter voice than she had been using with Laura. “For me?”

Laura and Carmilla exchanged a baffled look as the succubus quickly averted her eyes and pretended to be unaffected. Every few seconds she glanced back though and eventually she caved with a heavy sigh. “Fuck, fine. Just stop looking at me like that,” she grumbled. When Betty smirked smugly, Noxuli glared and pointed at her threateningly with her tail.

“Right then,” the succubus said as she turned her attention to Laura and Carmilla again. “Hello, I’m Noxuli and I am a succubus,” she paused to sneeze, “ and I was summoned here by the guy everyone calls the master and- “

The succubus sneezed again.

Carmilla took the chance to interject. “So you know who it is?” she asked, suddenly tense. It was pretty questionable just how trustworthy a demon’s word was, but if the succubus could just point out the leader of these mages that would be very useful.

Noxuli frowned and sniffled. “Yes, but let me stop you right there,” she said, rubbing at her nose. “The moment I was summoned I was forced into a  _very_ one-sided contract. I can’t tell you anything about the guy.” This time the force of her sneeze actually doubled the red-skinned woman over.

“Eh, bless you?” Laura muttered awkwardly. “Isn’t it supposed to be one-sided, though? I thought that’s how summoning worked.” She looked to Carmilla and the vampire only shrugged and raised a brow. What? Was she supposed to be the magic expert now?

“Sort of,” Noxuli said. When the demon looked up her eyes were red and bloodshot. As Carmilla took in the succubus’ state, she wondered if that contract was doing this to Noxuli for talking to them. Noxuli sniffled again and continued. “Normally the contract kind of goes both ways, you know? I do something for the summoner and in turn, the summoner provides energy to keep me in this realm. This time I didn’t even get to set terms. I just appeared here and bam, bound to a contract and drawing energy from something other than my summoner,” She sighed and showed off her full lips in a pout. “Didn’t even get to test the circle. Spoilsports.”

“What happens when the circle’s not good enough?” Laura asked slowly and hesitantly.

Noxuli grinned. “I break out, fuck my summoner until they give up their soul and then I use their energy to have fun until it runs out,” she said. A second later a look of panic flashed over her face and she looked over Laura’s head at Betty. “Though, you know, that’s behind me now! Way behind me, babe! Even if I wasn’t on the soul-free diet, I wouldn’t do that anymore. I-I mean, I would if you asked, but that’s different because it’s you,” she stammered, flustered. “You’re the only one I want to eat. In more ways than one.” Noxuli finished with a wink, though her expression was still pleading with Betty to understand.

The blonde in question was trying to smile through her obvious embarrassment. In the end it came off as more of a grimace. “I know, babe. We’ll talk about it once we’re both free.”

“Both?!” Laura yelped, spinning to face Betty with wide eyes. “What do you mean both? We’re here to rescue you and SJ!” she yelled, gesturing fervently.

“And it’s going  _so_ well. Great job,” Betty drawled so sarcastically that Carmilla found herself almost liking the blonde. “So helping Nox out of her cage as well shouldn’t add any problems, right? She can help carry your friend.” The tone of Betty’s voice made it clear just how little she cared about whether or not it did create problems. “I’m not leaving without Noxuli.”

“Aw, baby!” the succubus cooed with an utterly besotted look on her face.

Laura finally caught on to the looks and pet names the two captives were throwing back and forth. “Eh, what is going on here?” she asked, pointing back and forth between the two with an expression stuck somewhere between baffled and intrigued. “This feels kinda like the supernatural version of Orange is the New Black.”

Carmilla’s palm met her face with a resounding smack. “Maybe because it is, Cupcake?” she intoned with almost palpable exasperation. “For someone whom I’ve watched binge three lesbian drama series entirely over the course of two days you are remarkably inept at spotting when one is happening in front of you.”

Blushing and with her jaw hanging slack, Laura continued pointing at the two captives. “So you…and you…I-You…Huh?” she finished lamely as her arms dropped to her sides. The expression on her face could only be called helplessly lost and Carmilla had to bite her lip not to smile at it.  _‘Clueless as she might be, at least she’s still adorable.’_

Betty muttered under her breath for a few moments and sighed. “Look, Nox is the only…sort-of-human contact I’ve had in however long I’ve been here. She’s been keeping me sane.” She looked at the succubus’ beaming smile, but then quickly looked away again with a stubborn frown and a blush. “She’s smart and she’s sweet and she’s coming with us.”

Carmilla arched a brow. “That’s the quickest I’ve ever set Stockholm Syndrome set in,” she muttered before pointedly looking at the succubus in the other cage. “I thought you didn’t have your powers in there.”

“No!” Noxuli cried. She seemed genuinely wounded by the suspicion as she shook her head vigorously. “I mean, I have like a tiny bit of power, but I wouldn’t use it on Bets! She’s my soulmate!” When she got two sceptical looks from Betty and Carmilla and one still very confused one from Laura, she sighed. “Look, I know it’s not a thing for humans, but it is for Succubi. Sometimes we’re summoned and we meet a human who turns out to be our soulmate. We’ll fall in love really quickly and then we have to try to get them to fall in love with us too, so we can bring them back to hell and make them into succubi or incubi.” Her lips curved up into a small smile when she looked at Betty. “And then we can be together forever,” she said, before the moment was ruined when the succubus doubled over and had another sneezing fit.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Laura asked. She took the demon in with big, concerned eyes. “You don’t look so good,” she said, and Carmilla found she had to agree. The red eyes, sniffling and the tears she was now blinking away weren’t doing much for Noxuli’s sex appeal.

“It’s fine,” Noxuli promised, weakly waving Laura off with one hand while the other rubbed at her nose. “Succubi are liars by nature. We’re literally allergic to telling the truth,” She sniffed and smiled. “Some people are worth being honest for, though.” And then she sneezed again.

“Aaaaw,” Laura sighed. Her hands were clasped together and there was an almost absurdly gooey expression on her face as she looked at the succubus. At least, there was until Carmilla cleared her throat.

“Cupcake, she’s still a creature that spawned from hell itself and eats souls,” Carmilla said, pointing at the succubus and ignoring her indignant protest that she was on a diet. “Try to contain the starry-eyed wonder,”  she muttered, trying to ignore the tight feeling in her chest and the sudden burst of irritability it produced.

She was  _not_  jealous, thank you very much.

“Well, yeah,”  Laura began guiltily,“but she’s a really sweet one?” When that reply earned her nothing more than a groan and a weary look, she quickly moved on before Carmilla could interject. “So you think Betty is that person for you, huh? Your soulmate, I mean,” she asked Noxuli.

“I know she is,” the succubus replied with stunning certainty. “Even if she wasn’t, Bets is great! Do you know how long it’s been since I could talk about theoretical physics with someone who actually understood it?” She frowned and shook her head. “It’s always just ‘suck this’ or ‘lick that’ or ‘help me drag my sister into a life of corruption and perversion’” she complained, heedless of the way both Betty and Laura blushed. “Betty’s super smart and driven. I knew for sure when I got really hungry and she fed me. You have  _no_ idea how good her energy tastes even without a partner.”

There was a pregnant pause in which Carmilla grinned like the cat who had found an entire lake of cream, Laura’s eyes grew so wide they almost burst out of their sockets and Betty’s complexion went from tomato to fire truck red.

“So you…” Laura’s face was the picture of discomfort as she mimed something few people ever had reason to mime while Carmilla laughed at her.

Still red in the face, Betty looked them both dead in the eye and crossed her arms tightly. “She was hungry. It was the only option,” she said through clenched teeth. The look in her eyes almost dared them to comment further. “And we are getting off-track.”

“ _Right!_ Right.” Laura gratefully clung to the change of topic like it was the only floatation device keeping her from being dragged under in the sea of awkwardness. “So where were we?” she asked eagerly.

Noxuli looked pensive for a moment, stroking her horns. “You mean before we talked about ma- “

“ _Yes_ , before that,” Laura squeaked.

Carmilla, meanwhile, tried to work out if this was the best or worst day of her life. On the one hand, she had followed Laura into what seemed to be the world’s largest collection of summoned demons. On the other, the cupcake’s expression right at that moment was the funniest thing Carmilla had seen in years.

“Oh, right, my weird summoning.” Noxuli snapped her fingers. “Well, yeah, I’m not drawing power from the master but from some kind of weird gauntlet he has. He uses the same thing to keep the spells on all of the cages running so we can’t break out. Not that the contract would let us, but I guess he’s paranoid,” she said with a shrug. “Also, he’s summoning demons by, like, a dozen at a time.”

“Ooookaay,” Laura sighed, her expression falling more with each word Noxuli spoke. “Not that the fact that the kidnapping lunatic apparently has limitless magical energy thanks to part of a Halloween costume isn’t bad enough, but is summoning multiple demons that strange?” she asked.

“Normally it’s one per summoning,” the succubus answered. “I don’t know if I can tell you…hang on.” She paused for a moment and experimentally opened and closed her mouth a few times. “Sweet! Nothing is actively trying to silence me, so I guess the contract can’t stop me and I can tell you!” A gleeful grin spread across her pretty face. “So what ‘the master’ has done is pretty clever. Everyone has a bit of magic in them. Most have very little and almost nobody gets training, so almost nobody ever finds out, but some people are just born with a ton of magical energy inside of them. Like the girl in stasis or like Betty and the shorty here.” She pointed to Laura.

“Wait, hang on!” Laura held up both of her hands, an uncertain grin on her face. “I have magic? I mean, they must have figured I was a mage for a reason, but you mean I actually have enough to do magic like them?” The squeal building up deep inside of her was going to be so loud and high-pitched that all dogs in a five-mile radius were going to lose their hearing, Carmilla could just tell by looking at the honey-blonde girl.

“Oh, tons. I can tell you’ve not been trained, but most mages would only be able to tell that you’ve got a lot of magic,” Noxuli said. The succubus was clearly not aware just how badly she had blown Laura’s mind just now. She continued with the same excited grin. “Nobody summonses multiple familiars at once because keeping multiple portals open at once drains you too quickly. Run out of energy while summoning and…well, you’re lucky if you die of exhaustion before the portal becomes unstable.”

“So what does this have to do with the girls?” Carmilla asked. She shot Betty a glance. “I’m guessing they weren’t taken for moral support.” She chuckled when Bettie flipped her off.

“I think they’re looking for individuals who naturally have large reserves of magical energy and taking it from them,” Noxuli answered. She had taken to pacing up and down the length of her cage, lecturing as she did. “The gauntlet has so much energy, but it must require something each time you use it. I think it takes a lot of the wielders magic. Maybe enough to kill the wielder. So if you utterly drain someone, you can avoid that.” She turned back to the others with an excited grin. “I mean it would totally kill the person you’re draining but as a form of magical theory it’s really very clever because it means you can keep a ton of portables open and only sacrifice a bit of you own-oh.”  
She trailed off when she saw Laura’s excitement drain in the blink of an eye only to be replaced with a look of outraged horror. “Sorry. Probably should have figured the whole ‘loss of innocent lives thing’ would be a bigger deal for you.”

“That’s what they’ve been doing?!” The words seemed to burst out of Laura as she shook with rage. “They’ve been using people as disposable batteries?” She threw up her hands. “Why?!”

“No idea,” Noxuli shrugged. “Sometimes people come through to bring Betty food or something and they keep talking about some kind of ‘great cleansing’ the master has been planning.”

Laura muttered darkly under her breath, flailing in inarticulate rage as she tried to sort out her thoughts. “Wait! Why have so few people been reported as missing?” Her wide, brown eyes scanned the room. “There are so many cages here.”

“Oh, those have been there for years,” Noxuli muttered. “Summoning weakens the veil between worlds. Summon too much, too quickly and you might rip open a permanent gate between this realm and the one you’re trying to summon a familiar from. Summoning multiple creatures at once is probably even more dangerous. They always leave about a week between each summoning just to be on the safe side.” She gestured at the other cages. “Probably smart, since a portal to hell would be bad for pretty much everyone. At the rate they work, at some point they have to wait a few years to let the veil recover. They summoned me ten years ago and it was like…three or four before they started bringing people in again. Really boring, but it did give me time to work things out.”

Laura and Carmilla shared matching shocked looks before Laura buried her face in her hands and let out a long, despairing groan. Carmilla meanwhile leaned against the bars of Noxuli’s cage as she tried to process everything they had just heard.  _‘The person trying to kill the cupcake has a gauntlet which gives him incredible power at a cost he can circumvent and an army of demons who have to obey his commands. Great. Juuust great.’_ She ran a hand over her face.  _‘I wonder if I can sue this Guardian Angel agency. Or kill them.’_

After about a minute Laura lifted her head from her hands with a look of mixed determination and exhaustion. “I have  _no idea_ what to do with all this information. I’m just going to focus on the simplest thing. We need the gauntlet, right?”

“Oh, good, I thought I was going to have to plan my own rescue,” Betty muttered with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “Hollis, if you and Fangs McGee can get the gauntlet, we might be able to break the spell on our cages and release Nox from her contract so we can get the fuck out of here.” She glanced over at Noxuli. “Which way did you think it was?”

The succubus pointed further down the path with her tail. “That’s where I can feel the gauntlet.” Her tail swivelled and pointed vaguely the way Laura and Carmilla had come from next. “And I can feel two really strong mages way over that way, so you two might want to hurry.”

“Right, crap. One of those is probably the chief,” Laura muttered before she grabbed Carmilla’s hand and began pulling her down the path. “We’ll be back as soon as…” She paused and looked back at Betty. “If they leave a week between each summoning…” she said.

Betty shook her head. “Not important. Get going, Hollis.”

“It’s been five days since the last time they summoned something,” Noxuli said at the exact same time. She met Betty’s betrayed look with a fond, apologetic smile before she turned back to Laura. “Find the gauntlet. Please,” she pleaded.

“Like I said, it’s not important. At all,” Betty said, frowning at the succubus. “Are you two going to sit here waiting for someone to find you? Get going.” She gestured impatiently at the path until Laura nodded and set off again.

Behind them, they heard Noxuli laugh. “You’re so hot when you take charge,” she purred seductively. “You are going to make an amazing succubus, baby.”

Betty’s reply sounded almost shy. “Babe, come on. I told you already, not until I’m running for office.”

“So that’s not disturbing,” Carmilla growled under her breath. “I swear if I find either of them masturbating when we get back I’m biting them the second they step out of those cages,” she promised.

Laura gave her a weary look. “When I think about everything we’ve just learned, the fact that Betty apparently wants to date a succubus isn’t super high on the list of disturbing things,” she chuckled humourlessly. “I can’t believe those words actually left my mouth.”

They followed the path in silence for a bit, Carmilla’s unnaturally powerful senses straining to detect anything moving that wasn’t caged already. She almost jumped when Laura suddenly spoke. “There are so many cages,” she muttered, voice heavy with dread. “How big is this place? How many people died for it?”

Carmilla sighed and moved a little closer to the shorter girl as they walked. “I don’t think you want to know the answer, Laura,” she intoned gravely. No matter the number, Laura would probably consider the price too high. Carmilla couldn’t even pretend she felt differently. They continued past larger and larger cages with increasingly intimidating creatures held inside until they came upon a semi-circle of cages.

In this semi-circle, a space had been cleared and someone had drawn a huge summoning circle in what was obviously blood. Off to the side stood a simple table with some benches, which were covered in belongings from the officers who came here. Everything from food containers to pieces of uniforms and magazines on anything from sports to pop culture and gaming.

In front of the circle stood a plinth carved of white marble and decorated with gold leaf. Or quite possibly actual gold. Given all this secrecy, these mages struck Carmilla as the pretentiously dramatic sort who wouldn’t settle for anything but actual gold. She didn’t ponder it long though since she could see the gauntlet from here. It was hard to miss, considering it was hovering three inches off the plinth and glowing. “Gee, do you think that’s it?” she asked in an exaggerated naïve tone as they drew closer.

The gauntlet was beautiful, if bulky in its design. Forged from some kind of silvery steel, it seemed so utterly pristine that Carmilla could have sworn it was made yesterday. Like the plinth, it was decorated with gold. The glittering material took the form of lines that spread over the gauntlet and across each finger almost like veins.

And before Carmilla could say or do anything, Laura grabbed the damn thing.

“I can’t believe they just left it here. I guess it’s a good thing everyone was busy like Kirsch said,” Laura said, sighing with relief. “We were due for some good luck, huh?” she asked, turning to the stunned Carmilla with a grin.

Of course, everything immediately went to hell.

The gauntlet’s glow vanished and, in the blink of an eye, it had transformed. Where it had once been silvery and somewhat unwieldy, it now seemed to be made of plates of black steel and its form was much smaller and sleeker. The golden lines and the cane-like crest remained, though they seemed almost dull now.

Not a second later, the floating orbs of light scattered everywhere winked out and Carmilla could only groan as darkness descended. Just because it was not a problem for her that did not make it a good sign by any means. Of course, the disembodied voice that suddenly rang out was infinitely worse.

“You seem to be making a habit of sneaking into places you shouldn’t.” The voice was made unrecognizable by how the magic warped it and made it reverberate throughout the room. “Asterion, deal with them and retrieve the gauntlet!” When the last echoes faded away, the room went utterly silent for a blissful second.

Then there was a loud crash, echoing thunderously throughout the room. They spun around and Carmilla saw the bars of one of the larger cages had fallen forwards and left it wide open. In the darkness of the cage, something big stirred.  _‘Okay, fine.’_ Carmilla thought bitterly. Whatever was about to come out would find going toe to toe with a vampire mighty difficult, even if it was one of those rock creatures. Carmilla knew she could deal with this.

The thump of large, heavy feet preceded the sound of snorting breaths and low growling. Carmilla’s confidence wavered when huge hands with wicked fingernails gripped the side of the cage and the creature inside ducked out before stretching out to its full height. Sadly, this proved to be about five times Carmilla’s height.

The beast had the head of a bull complete with two imposing, black horns and the body of a very large man who had seen enough protein shakes to drown several bodybuilders. Thick, corded muscles rippled with every move the creature made. Carmilla felt like she had not truly known the meaning of the word bulging until she saw this creature’s arms. Its skin had an oily sheen to it and large parts of its chest and back were covered in black fur. Aside from a loincloth, the only thing it wore was a menacing glare.

A minotaur. They had summoned a  _fucking_ minotaur.

Carmilla knew she could not deal with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was that, Creampuffs?
> 
> This room was one of the first things I imagined when this story was starting to take shape, even though I wasn't entirely sure of what I wanted it to be at that point. It changed a few times and one of the things I like the most about it underwent a fairly massive change.
> 
> Noxuli.
> 
> She started out as this super minor character who probably wasn't going to pop up again, but then I was writing her dialogue and her interactions with Betty and I just had a few ideas to make the whole thing so much better. I love that she's basically dating Betty now XD
> 
> Can you imagine Betty as a succubus? She'd conquer the planet over the course of a weekend!
> 
> Anyway, Creampuffs, the next chapter will probably be up fairly soon as well. In the meantime, why not come say hi [on Tumblr?](http://sirprizex.tumblr.com/)


	12. (Reluctant) Heroic Vampire Crap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Creampuffs! Glad to hear you've enjoyed the last few chapters. Like I said, I've wanted to get to this point for a while, so it's nice to see that it's getting a positive response from you guys. 
> 
> As per usual, a shout-out to my wonderful beta reader Niallmccfanfic for scouring this for all the places my brain died while writing.
> 
> Anyway, that's all for now. I hope you'll enjoy reading, Creampuffs! Let me know what you think or stop by [on Tumblr!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sirprizex)!

The vampire grabbed Laura and tried to poof right on out of there…and then nothing happened. There was no pull at the base of her spine, no brief moment of darkness and disorientation as she vanished and reappeared somewhere else. Carmilla could not teleport out.

The minotaur let out a roar that sounded like the bellow of a bull mixed with the roar of a lion and Carmilla quickly decided that figuring out why she couldn’t probably was not the priority right now. She scooped Laura up and, ignoring her protests, turned tail and fled back the way they came. Thankfully whatever was going on apparently had not taken her vampiric speed from her. Unfortunately, the minotaur gave chase and for such a big creature, it was really fucking fast.

“What are you doing?!” Laura shouted over wind rushing around them. She clung to Carmilla for dear life with one hand while the other clutched the gauntlet tightly.

“What the hell do you think I’m doing?!” Carmilla asked as she left the path and cut through a narrow gap between two cages. She just hoped they could shake the minotaur that way, because there was no way she could outrun it for long. “Unless you have an axe and a small army hidden somewhere, I’m not fighting a minotaur, Creampuff!”

Asterion bellowed again and Carmilla felt dread settle over her when it was followed by a deafening crash and the sound of steel giving way. The pale girl glanced over her shoulder and saw the minotaur with his head bent down as he forced himself through a gap that was far too small through sheer brute force. The cages went skidding out of the way as he crashed into them, their bars bent and their occupants more than a little dizzy. It was barely slowing the bastard down.

And so began the worst game of cat and mouse Carmilla had ever been a part of. She was just barely faster than Asterion, but the minotaur was utterly relentless. He couldn’t fit through the gaps that Carmilla could cut through, but then again he just forced the cages aside with his bulk and kept going. When he couldn’t do that because the cages were too big, he just jumped over them. And of course, whenever they passed a small cage, Asterion would snatch it up and chuck it at them. The fact that the spells placed on them wouldn’t let them break apparently made the cages excellent projectiles. The demons inside probably were not quite as fond of this little trick, though.

The minotaur’s dreadful aim had been their saving grace so far. However, Carmilla had to change her course quite suddenly a few times when a cage crashed down in front of them and blocked the way. It had also allowed Carmilla to put a bit more distance between herself and the minotaur, but it certainly did not get any less terrifying to have huge blocks of enchanted steel soaring past your head.

“We need to do something!” Laura yelled. She peaked over Carmilla’s shoulder only to squeak and duck down again. A second later another cage with a shrieking imp in it came soaring by. “We can’t run forever!”

“The only one running is me, but I’m open to suggestions!” Carmilla replied, frantically looking for the next small gap to cut through. Sadly, Laura was right. Carmilla could feel herself tiring and Asterion still seemed to be going strong.

“Can we hide?” Laura asked desperately.

With no better options, Carmilla just nodded. They dove around a corner and when she saw two of the containers that had been turned into cages had been placed very close together, she sprinted towards them. “Move your ass, Cupcake,” She said as she put Laura down and ushered her into the gap.

With some difficulty, Laura squeezed her way in and Carmilla followed. Once they were settled, Laura and Carmilla were pressed together in a way the vampire was certain she would have enjoyed in any other situation. Laura’s hair was a mess and there were tears in her eyes. Whether they were from the wind earlier or the fear, Carmilla couldn’t tell. Either way, despite everything, she found herself struck by the urge to brush them away.

Thundering steps drew closer and Carmilla felt her breathing hitch when Laura bit her lip and buried her face in the vampire’s neck. She caught a glimpse of Asterion as he stormed right by them, bellowing in frustration, and her heart soared with elation. He hadn’t seen them. It was working. She wasn’t entirely sure when her arms had wrapped around Laura’s back, but her hold tightened slightly, and she felt the shorter girl copy the gesture.

And then Asterion stopped.

Carmilla could hear him sliding to a halt. The low rumble of his breathing seemed almost deafening in the otherwise silent halls as he grunted in confusion. _‘Go away, go away, go away,’_ Carmilla chanted in her head while Laura’s grip tightened for an entirely different reason. _‘Just go the hell away.’_

And then she heard the snuffling. Quick, short snorts filled the air accompanied by the sounds of footsteps drawing nearer. He could smell them. They couldn’t even hide because the fucking minotaur could smell them. If it wouldn’t immediately have given away their location away, she would have banged her head against the cage at her back.

What options did they have at this point? Running would only work for a little while at best, hiding was about as effective as trying to distract it with some well-placed grass and a snowball in hell would laugh at her chances in a fight.  Carmilla looked at Laura and it was almost as if something pressed down on her heart when she found wide, terrified eyes looking back at her. Laura’s hands were trembling where they rested on Carmilla’s hips and her heart was pounding so loudly it was hard to hear anything else for the vampire.

And all Carmilla wanted was to keep her safe. Not because a cosmic fuckup had left them tied together. That was the furthest thing from her mind. Carmilla wanted to keep Laura safe because she was Laura. Because she was the sort of girl who walked into a demonical menagerie to save a friend. The sort of girl who chided hellhounds and just rolled with it when an abducted woman told them she wasn’t leaving without her demonic sort-of girlfriend. The sort of girl who bared her neck for a hungry vampire just because she hated seeing her suffer. The sort of girl who didn’t care about the fangs or the missing heartbeat and saw Carmilla. Just Carmilla.

And Carmilla was so, _so_ unbelievably fucked.

She pulled away from Laura with a grim look. Or at least she tried because the moment she moved away, Laura yanked her back and gave her a look that clearly asked Carmilla if she had lost her goddamned mind. _´Honestly, I probably have,’_ the vampire thought as she smiled reassuringly at the blonde. “It’s okay, Cupcake,” she whispered. “Find the path, free Blondie and your friend and get out, okay? I’ll lead him away and I’ll be right behind you.”

Laura just shook her head. “Liar,” she whispered accusingly, tears streaming down her cheeks now.

Carmilla chuckled breathlessly. “Yeah,” she husked, tilting Laura’s head up with two fingers under her chin. “I guess vampires are about as good with the truth as succubi, huh?” And then she crushed their lips together, because how could she not?

Laura’s lips were soft and warm and Carmilla groaned when they responded without a second’s hesitation. It was as if someone ran a current through her body as Laura whimpered and deepened the kiss. Her every nerve ending was alight and screaming the same thing. She was kissing Laura. She was kissing Laura and it was amazing and not nearly enough.

Carmilla’s tongue darted against Laura’s lower lip and the shorter girl eagerly responded to the plea for entry. They stayed like that for as long as they could. Heads tilted, tongues tangled and hands either buried in silky hair or roaming over curves as if to engrave them in their minds while they still could.

Laura looked beyond dazed when Carmilla finally pulled away. “Find the path Cupcake,” Carmilla whispered before she slipped from Laura’s arms before the younger girl could recover. She wanted to say more, but honestly there was no time and she had no idea how to begin. Goodbye. Such a simple word and yet it stuck in her throat as if it was bolted there. The kiss would have to do.

Carmilla was transforming before she had even fully squeezed her way out of the gap. She sprinted straight towards the minotaur, going smoothly from two to four legs as she went. Asterion, for his part, seemed almost bemused that this small creature was charging him. Carmilla’s panther form was massive by human standards, but she didn’t even come up to the minotaur’s knee.

Of course, the height difference did come with certain advantages. She easily ducked under the blow he threw at her and slashed at his ankles as she slipped between his legs. Skidding on the floor, Carmilla turned around and leapt at the back of Asterion’s leg, dug in her claws and propelled herself to his broad back.

Razor-sharp though her claws were, she struggled to actually cut the minotaur’s thick hide and muscles. It was like trying to cut through leather that had been pulled tight over steel. Still, she left him with several long, bleeding gashes as she clawed at his back and Asterion tried to grab her.

Carmilla leapt off before he could and roared a challenge at him before she backed out of his reach. _‘Follow me, you dumb bastard,’_ she thought, staring him down as he bellowed with rage. There was only one way this was going to end, but it was going to end as far away from Laura as possible and Carmilla was determined to leave the minotaur with a few scars to remember her by. Thankfully he was more agreeable to this mental plea than her previous ones and when Carmilla darted away, he set off in pursuit.

She led him on a merry chase, swerving and weaving around cages with no plan or direction to speak of aside from not stopping. Unfortunately, anger had apparently only made Asterion faster and he was keeping pace. A few times her only option was to use her superior agility to change direction and dart around him. A dangerous game that let her get a few more slashes in, but Asterion really only needed one hit and it wasn’t long before he got it.

She had lost count of how many times she had escaped him, but evidently it was enough for the minotaur to catch on. When she tried to change directions again, Asterion was ready for her and his foot caught Carmilla right in the ribs. There was a sickening crack as they shattered and Carmilla yowled in pain. The force of the blow lifted her clean off the ground and propelled her over a row of cages like a furry football.

She hit the ground hard, cursing whatever liar had said that cats always landed on their feet, and rolled until she came to a stop against one of the cages. Breathing alone hurt like hell and the fire in her chest did not lessen when Carmilla transformed back. _‘Well, at least I found the path again.’_ She thought idly. She absolutely remembered the cage with the green imp-like thing in it she had rolled into. The pale girl lay there, gasping with pain, and she could only watch as Asterion shoved a cage aside and stomped over.  _‘Sorry, Mattie,’ s_ he thought and closed her eyes as the minotaur raised a fist the size of her torso. _‘Sorry, Cupcake.’_

And then there was a rush of heat, a flare of red light and when her eyes snapped open. the bull-headed beast was on fire. Howling in agony and blinded by the smoke of his own burning fur, he stumbled back and swung wildly at nothing. This time Carmilla saw a fireball hit him square in the face and he went from a bonfire to an inferno. Letting out increasingly distressed cries he stormed off down the path, swatting at the fire as he went.

Eyes wide with incredulity, Carmilla watched him go as the realization that she wasn’t dead sank in. Or rather, she wasn’t dead yet. Well, she was, but…never mind. With some difficulty, she turned her head to see where the fireballs had come from and let out a pained laugh when she found Laura. “Would it kill you to listen to me at least once?”

Laura seemed as shocked by what had just happened as Carmilla. She had one hand raised and that hand was clearly clad in the gauntlet they had stolen from this place. It seemed to have grown since then though since Laura’s entire right arm was clad in similar black armour up to her shoulder. The golden lines glowed so brightly they were almost blinding. “I suppose not.” Laura said, trying for humour. “But it might have killed you, so I figured you could suck it. Did you see me do magic, by the way? I have no idea what I did, but it was so- “

And then her eyes rolled back and she hit the ground with a thud.

Carmilla jerked up, groaning in pain, but relaxed when she saw Laura’s chest was still moving. She was breathing. She was okay. She was just unconscious.

Because of course she fucking was. Fucking fantastic.

“Smooth, Sundance.” Carmilla sighed, gingerly lowering herself back to the ground. The ground was good. The ground would let her rest until it no longer hurt to think, let alone breathe. Vampiric healing was great and all, but broken bones still took a while. “Be with you in a second, Cupcake,” she muttered.

In a rare lucky break she actually got more than a second. In fact, she got about then before the other cages started to open. First one, then two, then several all at once as Carmilla swore in every language she could think of. Death was too good for these mages. When she got her hands on them, it would be slow and it would be glorious. Mattie would be proud.

Agony washed over the dark-haired girl as she sat up. Dark spots danced before her eyes, threatening to draw her under, but Carmilla managed to climb to her feet. And then she got to do it all again when she bent down to pick Laura up and began running. Every time she moved too fast, Carmilla’s vision threatened to go dark and she almost dropped Laura, but she did her best to ignore the pain. They had the gauntlet and that fucking minotaur was gone. They just had to make it out.

Carmilla soon found herself passing Betty and Noxuli’s cages. She fully intended to keep walking, but one look at the girl in her arms made her stop. Grudgingly, but still. Not that it was appreciated. Betty looked at her as if she was insane. “The fuck are you doing?” She yelled as cage doors all around them began to open. “Keep moving!”

“We’ve got the gauntlet!” Carmilla yelled back.

The blonde rolled her eyes. “What you _don’t_ have is time to figure out how to get it to work. Just get it out of here! They can’t have it drain us for their summoning if they don’t have it!”

That was enough motivation for Carmilla. She sprinted the rest of the way, swerving around demons who looked around curious as to why they had been let out of their cages and those who caught on much more quickly. Darkness was creeping in at the edges of her vision again when she looked up and saw she was about to run into a rack.

Carmilla dug in her heels and stopped just in time, leaning against the metal as the realization sank in. Racks. Racks covered in boxes and bagged items and…she was back in the evidence room. They were out. They made it. She looked over her shoulder and found a small horde of demons crowded at the border between the hidden room and the evidence room. Among them was a tiny hellhound pup, who wagged his tail as he looked at them and barked before the wall returned and the room was hidden once more.

Carmilla let out a sigh and immediately bit her fist to contain a scream of agony when her broken ribs protested the motion. Laura was still unconscious in her arms and she could hardly go carrying the girl through the station without raising some awkward questions. She tried to reach for her powers again and groaned in relief when she felt the pull at the base of her spine before she vanished from the room and reappeared in an alley next to the station.

Carmilla managed to dump Laura on the backseat of Perry’s car and slumped against it as she texted the ginger twins to meet them outside. She just hoped they hadn’t been abducted by mages too. Not because she particularly cared about either of them, but because Laura would want to go in there and get them back when she woke up. Carmilla was neither in the mood nor in any state to do that.

A few minutes later the two redheads walked out of the station and their eyes widened when they spotted Carmilla. “What happened?” Perry asked the moment she was within earshot. She hovered around the vampire, checking for injuries before she moved on to looking at Laura through the car window.

“You were gone forever and Frosh wasn’t answering her phone,” Lafontaine added with a worried look, “We told that off-duty detective that you two were getting the rest of us lunch.”

“We’re…” Carmilla paused and shrugged. Okay certainly was not the word that came to mind right now, all things considered. “Alive. Or she is, anyway.” Carmilla jerked a thumb at Laura’s unconscious body and said, “Come on, let’s not do this here.”

The moment they were all in the car and the police station was out of sight, Lafontaine turned to look at Laura and Carmilla in the backseat. “Did you find the knife?” they asked.

Carmilla scoffed and adjusted Laura’s head in her lap. “Frankenginger, we found a lot of things, none of them knives.” She recounted the whole story from finding the hidden room to finding Betty and her rather dramatic loss of a game of tag with a minotaur.

Seriously, a fucking minotaur.

To avoid further awkward looks, Carmilla teleported Laura and herself up to the blonde’s dorm room once they returned to campus and then they did the only thing they could. They waited.

The armour on Laura’s arm vanished on the drive over and they had carefully taken the gauntlet off and put it on Laura’s desk. The golden lines on it still seemed to glow, but not nearly as bright as when Laura had worn it. Laura herself was thankfully unhurt for the most part, though she seemed to be in no hurry to wake up.

That left Carmilla with little to do but anxiously pace the length of the room while the science ginger glumly stared at their phone and Perry followed Carmilla insistently with a bag of frozen peas no matter how often the vampire informed the red-head that her ribs were already healing.

“I just got a text from Kirsch,” Lafontaine announced as they looked up from their phone. “The police have worked out something screwed with their cameras, but they can’t recover the footage and they don’t know what it was.” They sighed in relief and smiled. “At least _something_ went right.”

Carmilla growled, low and threatening, as she glared at Lafontaine. She found it rather difficult to consider that much of a victory at the moment.

“Just trying to find the silver lining,” Lafontaine muttered as they stood up and stretched. “Look I’m going to do…I don’t know, _something._ Maybe I can find information on missing people from years ago. There must be a pattern if they have to wait a few years once the veil gets too weak.”

“I’ll help,” Perry said before she shoved the bag of frozen peas into Carmilla’s hands. “Let us know if anything changes with Laura and If those are not on your ribs when I get back, I swear I’m bringing enough garlic next time to make six months’ worth of Italian food” she threatened the vampire before she turned and walked out of the room.

Lafontaine poorly hid their amused snort by turning it into a cough and they were very careful not to make eye contact with Carmilla before scampering after Perry. Probably smart, considering the vampire was a second away from chucking the bag at their head. Instead she gave it a disdainful look before she tossed it on the desk next to the gauntlet and resumed her pacing.

Laura would be fine. Laura had to be fine.

It was another hour before the blonde finally stirred. “Woah, so that was a kick,” she groaned. “What happened?”

“Laura!” Carmilla dropped to her knees next to the bed and gave her a wide, relieved smile. “You scared the crap out of us, Cupcake.” When Laura tried to sit up, she quickly pushed her back down. “Hey, take it easy, okay? You’ve been out for a while.”

“Why is my body so heavy?” Laura whined.

“You used the gauntlet and it kicked your scrawny ass, Cupcake,” Carmilla informed her. “Just when I thought your plans could not get any worse.” She tried to be stern because that fucking thing could have killed Laura, but Carmilla could not stop the affection from bleeding into her tone. She brushed a few honey-blonde strands of hair from Laura’s forehead.

“I ‘member,” Laura drawled as a weak grin spread across her face. “I totally lit that stupid minotaur on fire.”

“Yeah, you did,” Carmilla chuckled.

Laura grunted softly and tilted her head into Carmilla’s touch. “Never thought I would say this, but Harry Potter can bite me. That’s how you do magic.”

“Try boasting if you can stay conscious, Poptart,” Carmilla murmured as she stroked Laura’s cheek with her thumb. She was all right. She was talking and making stupid pop culture jokes and she was all right and Carmilla finally felt like she could breathe. Until tired eyes locked on her own, that is.

“And you kissed me,” Laura said as she stared into Carmilla’s eyes. “You kissed me.”

“Ah…Yeah…” Carmilla searched for a quip or evasive answer and came up with absolutely nothing. Silence settled over the room as they stared at each other and just when the dark-haired girl began to ponder if Laura was scrambling for something to say as frantically as she was, Laura spoke again.

“So that was nice,” the blonde muttered, leaning into the vampire’s touch a bit more. “Is that a special occasions only thing?” she asked, lips curling into a nervous smile. “Like a ‘we’re about to die at the hands of a beast of Greek mythology’ only thing? Because I’m not okay with that and I don’t buy for a second that you only wanted to kiss me once so don’t even- “

And now she was rambling. Clearly Laura was going to be totally fine. Not that Carmilla really minded the rambling. She had a new way to shut the shorter girl up after all.

Their second kiss was longer. Slow and unhurried, they took the chance to explore each other’s lips in a way they didn’t have time for with a minotaur stalking towards them. Carmilla cupped Laura’s cheek and the honey-blonde girl grabbed the vampire’s shirt, though her grip was still a bit weak. Laura was the one to silently request entry this time and Carmilla was all too happy to grant it.

Things quickly spiralled out of control after that. Someone groaned hungrily as their tongues met and things quickly became less chaste. Carmilla sucked on Laura’s tongue, amusement shining in her eyes when she saw Laura’s utterly ravenous expression. Despite her exhaustion, Laura refused to let Carmilla win though. The hand that had fisted Carmilla’s shirt moved to her hair and tugged hard while her teeth tugged on the vampire’s lower lip.

Carmilla growled and climbed on to the bed, straddling the shorter girl. With a wicked grin she, ground her hips down, shuddering at both the bolt of pleasure that shot through her and the helpless whimper that spilled from Laura’s lips. “Carmilla…” she whined before she tugged the taller girl back down and kissed her senseless.

Laura took the hand supporting Carmilla and moved it under her shirt, guiding it along her side and up over her ribs until finally she brought it to her chest. The pale girl’s eyes snapped open in surprise when she felt the material of Laura’s bra and the wonderful curve of her breast under her palm. When Laura gave no indication that it wasn’t exactly where Carmilla’s hand was supposed to be, the vampire purred into the kiss and squeezed gently.

God, the moan that spilled from Laura’s lips. Carmilla couldn’t recall the last time something so simple ruined her so completely.

Laura tore her lips away and arched into the touch, keening. “ _Fuck, Carmilla.”_

The pale girl immediately wanted nothing more than to make Laura repeat those words. Again and again. In fact, she was kind of opposed to Laura ever speaking again if she wasn’t going to say those words.

And then a series of sharp knocks rang out through the room and ruined the moment.

Both girls groaned and Carmilla rested their foreheads together, a growl rumbling in her throat and her urge to kill rising quickly. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Laura stared up at Carmilla all big-eyed and with her chest heaving and sweat on her brow and Carmilla could see the decision forming in her mind before Laura even made it. “Fuck it,” Laura muttered before she pulled Carmilla back down insistently.

The vampire went willingly and returned the kiss as she resumed her ministrations. Even through the fabric of her bra, Carmilla felt the warmth of Laura’s body. Almost like it was spilling over and leaking into her own, really. She grinned when Laura broke away from her lips again to whimper. “You have to be quiet if you want them to go away,” she whispered, grazing her fangs against Laura’s neck and pressing her thigh between Laura’s legs. “Can you do that, Creampuff?”

“Hate. You,” Laura hissed through clenched teeth, writhing and fisting the sheets.

Carmilla laughed huskily. “No, you don’t.” She nudged at the shorter girl’s cheek with her nose until Laura gave in and met her lips again. Grinning into the kiss, Carmilla then unlatched Laura’s bra in a single, quick movement and swallowed her moan when the vampire’s palms met bare skin. Her breasts were soft and perfect in Carmilla’s hands and she couldn’t resist the urge to let her fingers circle Laura’s nipples. They were so hard under her touch.

Again the person outside knocked and this time there was nothing soft about Carmilla’s growl. Her eyes were little more than pitch-black pools as she lifted her head to yell at the idiot. She didn’t care if one of the gingers learned what was going on. Maybe they would get lost for a few hours for once.

Laura didn’t even give her the time, though. A hand tangled in her hair again and tugged hard enough for it to sting oh so wonderfully. She looked down at Laura, fangs bared, and the blonde gave her a needy look. “They’ll go away,” she promised. “Don’t stop.” She took one of Carmilla’s hands again, but this time she began to guide it down. “Take it off,” she whispered. “Touch me.”

It killed Carmilla’s brain for a few seconds. She watched her hand travel down Laura’s stomach, could feel the soft skin and count her ribs and yet she had to remind herself that it really _was_ her hand being guided to where Laura needed her. All she could think about were those gorgeous, dazed eyes looking up at her.

Until the third round of knocking began, at least. Both girls groaned when they realised that whoever was outside probably wasn’t going to go away and Carmilla buried her face in the blonde’s neck while Laura slumped on the bed. “Cupcake, do I have your permission to murder whoever is on the other side of that door?” the vampire asked, her voice muffled.

Laura sighed and ran a hand through Carmilla’s hair. “You know what? Yeah, murder away,” she grumbled, gesturing at the door.

Carmilla laughed softly as she sat up. The sight of Laura with a healthy blush on her face, swollen lips and ruined hair was doing little for her desire to get up. “You’re hot when you’re agreeing to murder,” she teased before she pecked the shorter girl on the lips and reluctantly climbed off. With an expression that promised a particularly gruesome death, she threw open the door. “Science ginger I swear you-Oh. What the hell do you want?”

Standing in the hall was not Lafontaine, but a boy who barely seemed to have left his teenage years behind him. He wore baggy trousers and dirty sneakers, which he apparently figured matched well with a white dress shirt, a dark-green jacket and a matching trilby perched on his head. Blonde curls spilled out from underneath the hat and fell over his grey eyes.

“Good evening,” he said with a cheery grin as he took off his hat. It was only then that Carmilla noticed the beautiful, black cane with a silver head he held in his other hand. “Is Miss Hollis in?” the boy asked politely.

Carmilla crossed her arms and tried to make his head explode with her mind as she leaned against the doorway. “Who’s asking?” she grunted. Dealing with people was the last thing she wanted right now, let alone weird hipster teenagers.

For no clear reason, the boy let out a bark of laughter. “Hipster teenager indeed,” he said, grinning when Carmilla’s eyes widened in shock. “No need to be alarmed, Miss Karnstein. I’m just here because I heard Miss Hollis is in possession of my gauntlet.” He put his hat back on his head and extended a hand. “Sorry about the outfit. It’s been some time since I took human form. Anyway, my name is Hastur.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was that, Creampuffs?
> 
> I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I mean, it probably would have been fun to somehow get Noxuli or the hellhound to come with Laura and Carmilla, but having either of them around would kind of screw with what I want the next few chapters to be about. Don't worry, though, we'll see both of them again sooner or later. There is no such thing as too many naked succubi or hellhound puppies in a story (Editor's note: There is, in fact, such a thing as too many naked succubi or hellhound puppies in a story). Someone we won't be seeing again is Asterion, though. Poor, flammable bastard. 
> 
> Anyway, we finally got around to Laura and Carmilla kissing in something that wasn't a dream or fantasy! Whooo! When I started this, I did not expect that would take 12 chapters XD. I hope none of you are expecting it to be fluff and rainbows for them after this, though. Can't make it too easy for 'em. 
> 
> This is the last of the four chapters I wrote in a single sitting and after hammering out around 24.000+ words for this fic, I kinda took a break from it. Of course, that means I've not written a word for the next chapter yet and the next update will take a while since I have to get on that now. I know what I want to do with the next chapter, I just have to work out how and write it all down. I'll try not to take months. Again. >.>
> 
> Anyway, guys, be sure to let me know what you think or come question my sanity [on Tumblr!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sirprizex)!


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